John 3:33 – “Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.”

God is true, God’s words are true. God’s prophecies are true. God’s Son is true. God’s Son’s words are true.

하나님은 진실이시며,하나님의 말씀은 진실합니다.하나님의 예언은 진실합니다.하나님의 아들은 진실입니다.하나님의 아들의 말씀은 진실합니다.

上帝是真实的，上帝的话语是真实的。上帝的预言是真实的。上帝的儿子是真实的。上帝儿子的话语是真实的

خدا سچا ہے، خدا کے کلام سچے ہیں۔ خدا کی پیشین گوئیاں سچی ہیں۔ خدا کا بیٹا سچا ہے۔ خدا کے بیٹے کے کلام سچے ہیں۔

5/1/2025 King Josiahs return to the Book of the Law was not enough to stop the wrath of God upon Judah.

2 Kings 22:8-23:30

[The Book of the Law is found by Hilkiah and given to the King]

2 Kings 22:8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.”
10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

[The King tore his clothes with a repentant heart for the kingdoms’ absence to the True God]
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,
13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her.

[The God of Israel continues with wrath upon the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, but shows grace to King Josiah]

15 And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me,
16 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read.
17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.
18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard,
19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.
20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.'” And they brought back word to the king.

[King Josiah reestablishes the Book of the Law and breaks down all forms of idolatry]

ESV 2 Kings 23:1 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him.
2 And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.
3 And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.
5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens.
6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city.
9 However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.
11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
14 And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah.
16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.
17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.”
18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.
19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel.
20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

[The King keeps the Passover and continues to cleanse Judah of Idolatry]
21 And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”
22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.
23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

[Regardless of the repentance and reforms of King Josiah, the sins of Israel kindled His wrath]
25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
26 Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.
27 And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”
28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.
30 And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.
(2 Ki. 22:1-23:30 ESV)

5/28/24 Do it Gods’ way!

OT 1 Samuel 13:1-22

1 Samuel 13:1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty- two years.

 2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

 3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!”

 4 So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

 5 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven.

 6 When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.

 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.

 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.

 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

 11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,

 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor. ‘ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

 13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

 15 Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

 16 Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash.

 17 Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual,

 18 another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

 19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!”

 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened.

 21 The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

 22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

 23 Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.

 (1 Sam. 13:1-23 NIV)

Keypoints

  1. God didn’t choose Israel, because they were powerful.
  2. God works through impossible scenarios which only by God could they be possible.
  3. God is not rushed according to our timing. Patience is tested by God.
  4. When the enemy is in control, they will try to make sure that we are void of the armor of God.

Fallen Condition of the Human Heart

  1. We think that our ways are greater than Gods ways.
  2. We fear man more than God.
  3. We worship God, incorrectly.

The Gospel Effect

  1. We realize that Gods ways are greater than our ways through Jesus Christ. We come to trust in Him and His words. We grow in greater faith, in all aspects and facets of life.
  2. As our faith grow in God, we learn to love God and fear Him. As our minds are expanded in the greatness of God, we realize that God is greater than man.
  3. With faith in Christ, we submit ourselves to the word and follow according to the commands of God. The Holy Spirit gives us discernment on what is of God and what is not of God. By faith in Jesus Christ, we are able to worship God correctly. 

Application

  1. Have faith in God and be patient, especially when God seems to be late, because God is not late. Instead of trying to rush God, allow God to work according to His timing.
  2. Nothing is too big for God. Therefore, in times of hardship and seemingly impossible scenarios, submit our desires to God and allow God to fight for us. He is the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS.

5/20/24 Promise of Blessing and Curse 

1 Samuel 12:1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you.

      2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.

 3 Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.”

      4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”

            5 And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

      6 And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers.

      8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.

            9 But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them.

                  10 And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’

                        11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.

 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king.

 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you.

 14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well.

 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.

 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.

       17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.”

             18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

                   19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”

                         20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

                         21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.

 22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.

 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

 24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

 (1 Sam. 12:1-25 ESV)

Key Observations

  1. Samuel uses his clean reputation to speak more powerfully to Israel. When we share the gospel of Jesus Christ, our lifestyle should support and give strength to the listener in considering the authenticity and genuine of the message.
  2. Samuel makes a parallel between the Israelites who forgot the LORD after they were saved from EGYPT (vs 7-11), with the Israelites who forgot the LORD after they entered into the promised land (vs 16-21). The Israelites are prone to forget and follow after the ways of the world. The Lord GOD disciplines, but also shows patience to them. He allows them to have a king as they wished, but doesn’t relent in the command of serving the LORD with all their heart.
  3. There’s a tension between the faithfulness of God and the discipline of God. The Lord will not forsake his people, but if they do wickedness, they will be swept away. If they repent, they will we reconciled. After reconciliation, if they forget and turn away from God, they will be swept away. If they repent… Yet God, doesn’t forgive 1 time, but many times and every time they confess and repent to God. He is patient. 

Fallen Condition of the Human Heart

  1. We make bad requests to God.
  2. We forget what God has done for us.
  3. We seek after idols.
  4. We are rebellious against the commands of the Lord.
  5. We don’t want to obey the voice of the Lord.
  6. We come face to face with the reality of sin when we are in trouble.

The effect of faith in Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

  1. Through the loving-patience of God, we learn to seek after what God wants above what we want.
  2. The Holy Spirit reminds us time and time again of who God is and what God has done for us.
  3. As Christ works upon our hearts, we gradually lay down the idols which have influenced our thoughts and actions.
  4. Through hearing the gospel and seeking after God, we learn the fear of the Lord.
  5. Our hearts are transformed from darkness to light.
  6. We come face to face with the reality of the grace of God upon sinners who have faith in Him.

Application

  1. Live a life which gives strength to the gospel we preach.
  2. When we live according to the word of God, it will be well.
  3. Let the word of God live in our minds, that we would not forget the great things that God has done for us.

5/24/2024 Jesus Christ was cursed for me…

While spending my time in the word this morning, I came upon some interesting verses. I as doing a word study on “accursed”. It means to be cursed and damned. In Deuteronomy, it says a person who has committed a sin worthy of death by hanging on a tree is accursed of God.

22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
(Deut. 21:22-23 KJV)

The good news of the kingdom is that Jesus Christ, the only son of God, was put to death and hung on a tree for the sins of the world, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. The son of God was accursed so that we may be free from the curse of sin and death.

Here comes the twister. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed! How can this be so? Jesus Christ fits the criteria of being put to death and being hung on a tree. Doesn’t that punishment mean that Jesus Christ was accursed of God?

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. 12:3 KJV)

There is one way in which Jesus Christ didn’t fit the criteria of Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Jesus Christ, the son of God, didn’t commit any sin worthy of death. In fact, Jesus Christ was the perfect lamb without blemish. Jesus Christ didn’t deserve to be put to death. Therefore, God didn’t accurse Jesus Christ. The Chief Priests, The Scribes, The Pharisees, the ones who were trying to find an accusation. They weren’t merely trying to ruin the reputation of Christ, they were trying to make him accursed of God. They were playing God, they were playing Judge.

Now, God is not manipulated nor can He be controlled. We are subject to His will, plan and predestination. Therefore, when mere men who don’t know God tried to find an accusation to accurse Christ to death on a tree, the only accusation they could find was on the sign above him on the across, “The King of the Jews.” Ironically, the accusation was true, but why does this accusation have to lead to death? Why does He have to be condemned? Even Pontius Pilot was confused at their logic.

When Jesus Christ was wrongly put to death on the tree, Jesus Christ was not accursed by God, but by man. The Heavenly Father found the sacrifice for sin acceptable, because the sacrifice was pure and perfect. Therefore, the Heavenly Father overruled the judgement of the Jews and resurrected Jesus Christ to eternal life. Therefore, Jesus was cursed for a moment by the Jews, but not accursed by God for eternity.

As the Jews declared Jesus Christ accursed by God by hanging him on a tree until death, the Heavenly Father declared Jesus Christ innocent by resurrecting him on the third day. Also, as Jesus Christ was brought back to life, He became the second Adam, a man who gives eternal life.

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Gal. 3:13 KJV)

We have been set free of the curse of the law, because Jesus Christ unjustly endured the curse for us, but according to the holiness and uprightness of the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ was blessed with a reversal of the curse and the ability to usher the elect unto eternal life. AMEN AND AMEN!

5/14/2024 Gods will > My will.

My devotionals today comes from John 6:1-29. 

ESV John 7:1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.

 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.

 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”

 5 For not even his brothers believed in him.

 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.

 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

 10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.

 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”

 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.”

 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

 14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”

 16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

 17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”

 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”

 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it.

 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?

 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

 25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?

 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?

 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”

 28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” (Jn. 7:1-29 ESV)

Key points of this passage

  1. The Jews were seeking to kill him, because He claimed to be Christ, the I AM. (vs 1)
  2. Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in him. (vs 5)
  3. The reason why the world hates Jesus is because he calls out evil. (vs 7)
  4. Jesus doesn’t fulfill the will of man, but of God. (vs 4, 5, 8, 10, 14)
  5. Jews knew that the Jewish leaders were against Jesus, therefore were afraid to speak about him. (vs 13)
  6. The teachings of Jesus are the teachings of Father God. (vs 16, 17, 18)
  7. The Jewish leaders looked obedient to God on the outside, but in their hearts’, they were disobedient to God. (vs 19)
  8. When evil is confronted, they deny it. (vs 20, 25)
  9. The Jewish leaders were judging, but with wrong judgement. (vs 24)
  10. The Jewish leaders judged Jesus, because they knew Joseph, Mary and their family members. They were not of high standing, nor did they have any authority with the Jews. They judged by the appearance, instead of judging with right judgement. If the Jewish leaders were truly following God, they would know Christ, for Christ is from God and is sent by God.

Fallen Condition Focus:

  1. We are prone to disbelief in the true God.
  2. We seek out miraculous supernatural events to prove God’s existence.
  3. We hate God, because God calls out sin.
  4. We think our will is better than Gods’ will.
  5. We are fearful of man, rather than God.
  6. We are deceitful and liars.
  7. We desire to be worshiped by others.
  8. We judge as if our ways are the highest, instead of God way which is higher.

The effect of Christ and the Gospel to our Fallen Condition:

  1. Faith is given to those who don’t believe as a gift of God by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
  2. We have faith in God who is beyond understanding, instead of looking for signs and wonders.
  3. We are transformed from children of darkness to children of light, which desires God’s corrections for further sanctification.
  4. We learn to surrender our will and to accept the will of God.
  5. We learn to fear God and not man.
  6. We begin hating dishonesty and speaking the truth.
  7. We desire others to worship God.
  8. We look to God for judgement and discernment, instead of our opinions.

Application for our daily lives:

  1. Don’t try to make your will into Gods will, let Gods will become your will.
  2. Fear God, not man. Live for God, not for mans approval.
  3. Develop a relationship with God, instead of looking for signs and wonders.

5/6/2024 The Bread of Life, Son of God, Jesus Christ.

This week, I’m meditating on John 6:43-71.

 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.

 44 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

 45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.

 46 “Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.

 47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

 48 “I am the bread of life.

 49 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

 50 “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

 51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

 52 The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

 53 Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.

 54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

 55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.

 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

 57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

 58 “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever.”

 59 These things He said in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.

 60 Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”

 61 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble?

 62 “What then if you should behold the Son of Man ascending where He was before?

 63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

 64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.

 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

 66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore.

 67 Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”

 68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

 69 “And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”

 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. (Jn. 6:43-71 NAS)

Key points for me.

  1. I have faith in Jesus Christ, because the Father drew me to Himself.(vs44) To come to Christ is to have faith in Him. We can only have faith in Him, if the Father draws us to himself. When we are drawn by Father God, we are given something similar to mana which was given to Israel to sustain them in the desert. The difference is that this time, God gives us something for eternal life. He gave us the bread of life, Jesus Christ, His only son.
  2. The Father drew me to Himself, that I would believe in Christ and have eternal life. (vs47) The next question is, what then did Jesus Christ say for us to believe? Believing in Christ is not just believing in the existence of Christ, but also the teachings of Christ and the teachings about Christ through the Old and New Testament. This faith lead us to read the scriptures and allow Christs’ words to guide my life.
  3. Jesus Christ > Manna in the Wilderness. The Bread of Life is eternal. The Manna was temporal. (vs48-51) Jesus Christ is the better manna, the better bread, because He is the life. In Him is eternal life. When we talk about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to another person, instead of considering it as a mental bout or information transfer, I think the proper way to understand it in light of this passage is that we are feeding each other. We are feeding each other Christ. We are sharing the eternal life in Jesus Christ with others. This bread is not like any bread that we eat on earth and become hungry again later. This bread is the bread which gives us eternal life.
  4. What does it mean for us to eat Christ? (vs52-56) When the Israelites ate the Manna, they had faith in God or the provision of life and ate. When we eat Christ, it means to have faith in God the Father who provided Christ as our provision for eternal life. The meaning isn’t literal, but spiritual.
  5. Many disciples come to Jesus Christ for blessings, such as food and money. When they realized that Jesus Christ doesn’t promise these things, they leave, because Jesus Christ didn’t offer them what they wanted. If we come to God as a transactional relationship, we will leave disappointed. Therefore, we should not come to God with false expectation, but rather according to the word of God.
  6. The will of God is perfect, even in face of adversity. Jesus Christ knew Judas was going to betray him, but still chose him as one of the twelve disciples. 

How this passage shows the human condition of sin.

Due to our fallen nature:

  1. understanding the spiritual truths of God is difficult and often underestimated.
  2. when we hear something that we cannot explain, we grumble and complain.
  3. we cannot come to God on our own accord. 
  4. we need to have faith in Jesus Christ to save us from sin and death.
  5. we stumble when we read special revelation which goes beyond our understanding.
  6. we focus on taking care of the flesh instead of the spirit.
  7. we betray the true God.

How has Christ overcome the human conditions of sin?

In Christ:

  1. our minds are illuminated by the Holy Spirit unto faith, wisdom and understanding.
  2. we learn to submit the lofty thoughts which raise themselves up against the truth in Christ.
  3. we have been reconciled to God.
  4. we are given the gift of faith which leads to eternal life.
  5. we realize who Jesus Christ is and learn from Him.
  6. we focus on taking care of the spirit.
  7. we love and fear the Lord God.

4/29/2024

ESV 1 Samuel 10

 1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.

 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”‘

 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.

 5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.

 6 Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

 7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

 9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.

 10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.

 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

 12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

 14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

 16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

 17 Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah.

 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’

 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”

 20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.

 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.

 22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.

 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

 25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.

 26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.

 27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

ESV 1 Samuel 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.”

 3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.”

 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.

 5 Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh.

 6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.

 7 He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.

 8 When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

 9 And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.'” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad.

 10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”

 11 And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

 12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.”

 13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.”

 14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.”

 (1 Sam. 10:1-11:14 ESV)

Key points which spoke to me.

  1. God gives signs that He is at work. (10:1)
  2. God gives us another heart. (10:9)
  3. When the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, we turn into another man. (1:6)
  4. When Saul was chosen as King the people grumbled and complained. (10:11-12)
  5. Saul was chosen, because Israel rejected God as king. (10:18)
  6. Casting lots is by chance, but God demonstrates that even in lots He is at work. (10:20-21)
  7. Worthless fellows despised the new chosen King, which they asked for. (10:27)
  8. They wanted to put Saul to death after Saul had rescued Jabesh from the Ammonites. (11:12)

Correlation between King Saul & King of Kings Jesus Christ.

  1. The signs of the Kingdom of God through the miracles in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
  2. At the Baptism of Jesus Christ, the spirit of God, in a form of a dove descended out of the heavens and rested upon him. A voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)
  3. Same as 2​
  4.  When Jesus Christ said he came down from heaven, (I AM GOD), the people grumbled and complained, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’? (John 6:42)
  5. Jesus Christ came to RECONCILE us to our King, our GOD whom we rejected.
  6. When Judas Iscariot was reject as one of the twelve disciples, they casted LOTS to chose a replacement. (Acts 1:26)
  7. The Pharisees and Sadducees despised Jesus, the King of the Jews.  “25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.'” (Jn. 15:25 ESV)
  8. After Jesus Christ has done all the miraculous works of casting out demons, healing the sick and proclaiming forgiveness of sins, the Pharisees wanted to put Jesus Christ to death.  “14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.” (Matt. 12:14 ESV)

As you compare the two, you can see the similarities, but I want to focus on the differences.

The major difference is, Saul was made KING, because Israel rejected God as king meanwhile, Jesus the King of Kings came to RECONCILE us to God! What seems like an unraveling of power in the Old Testament is reversed by Jesus Christ, the son of God, whom would reconcile us to YHWH our Lord and King. All throughout scripture, we are left with signs of what is to happen at the coming of Jesus Christ. We see that in Jesus Christ, he is the greater, the better, the best of all comparisons and signs. Jesus Christ and the gospel is the pinnacle of the redemptive story of God!!

“Some other points I found was that when we are born again, Jesus gives us a new heart and a new spirit, just as God gave king Saul a new heart and a new spirit. Very interesting, except this time it is a permanent and eternal covenant that will never end, Jesus being King!” – Solomon Kim 4/30/2024

4/22/2024 Our Relenting God.

This week, I’m meditating on Psalms 106:32-48

 32 They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account;

 33 Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

 34 They did not destroy the peoples, As the LORD commanded them,

 35 But they mingled with the nations, And learned their practices,

 36 And served their idols, Which became a snare to them.

 37 They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,

 38 And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood.

 39 Thus they became unclean in their practices, And played the harlot in their deeds.

 40 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people, And He abhorred His inheritance.

41 Then He gave them into the hand of the nations; And those who hated them ruled over them.

 42 Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were subdued under their power.

43 Many times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, And so sank down in their iniquity.

 44 Nevertheless He looked upon their distress, When He heard their cry;

 45 And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.

 46 He also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors.

 47 Save us, O LORD our God, And gather us from among the nations, To give thanks to Thy holy name, And glory in Thy praise.

 48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the LORD!

 (Ps. 106:32-48 NAS)

Here are some key points that I took from this passage.

  1. Humanity is prone to rebel against God and seek after false idols. We are idol factories. The human heart is an idol factory. It loves to find something to be infatuated about or to worship. The problem with this is that when we worship something that is not the true God, our desires no longer align with the truth, and we are coerced into deeper rebellion which powers greater iniquity. 
  2. When we follow after the ways of the world, instead of the ways of God, we are a harlot. Since we are God’s creation, we belong to God. To rebel against God is to turn away from our true creator, our true owner and violate the inherent relationship we have with God. For human relationships, we have with is called defining the relationship. When dating someone and wanting to be more serious, there is conversation about exclusivity. By nature of who God is, we are exclusively His. When we look to the world to find something or someone to worship instead of the true God, we are playing the harlot.
  3. Our God is jealous and will not allow us to live in sin. God disciplines the ones he loves. If we are not disciplined, we are not a child of God. In God’s jealousy he disciplines us with hardships and pains when we are living in sin. The reason of this is because, however hard and painful God’s discipline is, it’s better than eternal death in hell. It’s better to go through the discipline of God and be saved than to be illegitimate child and be abandoned in sin. The purpose of this discipline is to make us realized that what we are doing is wrong and that we should repent to God whom we have wronged.
  1. When we repent, God is gracious to relent according to the greatness of His loving kindness. We see God loves us, because he saved us. We see God loves us, because he instructs us. We see God loves us, because he disciplines us. We also see God loves us, because he relents. How weighty and unbearable would it be if God didn’t relent? If even when we repent, God didn’t relent. That would be terrible and in fact a life that is too hard to live. But instead, God shows us that he truly does love us and the desire is for us to correct ourselves, because when we repent God relents according to his great loving kindness.
  1. In the Old Testament, the Lord relented, because of His covenants made with Moses, Abraham, Issac and Jacob. In the New Testament, our covenant is the new covenant which comes from Christ. 

The New Covenant promised by God in Jeremiah 31:31

31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

 34 “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day, And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:

 36 “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also shall cease From being a nation before Me forever.”

 37 Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.

 38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

 39 “And the measuring line shall go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

 40 “And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, or overthrown anymore forever.”

 (Jer. 31:31-32:1 NAS)

Jesus Christ declaring the New Covenant is which the blood of Jesus Christ.

 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Lk. 22:20 NAS)

4/18/2024 Jesus Christ is the way of eternal life. (Solomon Recommendation)

Thank you for sharing the passage from Numbers & John. 

 4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.

 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”

 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. (Num. 21:4-9 ESV)

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

 (Jn. 3:14-15 ESV)

Here are the observations that I’ve made.

The fallen man is impatient and prone to complaining. When I look at my own life, I know that I can’t say that I’m any better than the Israelites. Sometimes I feel like I am in the wilderness. I’m waiting for God to unleash blessings to me, whether financial or emotional, but the journey hasn’t taken me there yet. I feel like I am lacking and I don’t have enough. I have this urge to have more. The reality is, I am not lacking. The reality is, God is taking care of me and sustaining me. The act of being impatient and complain is from a lack of faith. A lack of faith in God’s plan and timing. A lack of faith in God’s providence. This is a part of me which I have been working on over the past year as we’ve been talking to each other. I remember you mentioned that having true faith is to have no anxiety, because we’ve fully placed ourselves on God. This is very true. By the grace of God, I’ve grown in this way. I’ve gotten much better at accepting my situations, but at pressing forward in faith. Although with me, God has been gracious in my times of weakeness, with the Israelites, He was more stern.

To lack faith is to die. “Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.” Believing in God isn’t a hobby or leisure or for fun. Believing in God is a matter of life and death. To know God is to have life. To doubt God leads to death. For the Israelites it was a heavy handed lesson to learn.

God’s desire is not for us to die, but to repent and have life. “As sure as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” Ezekiel 33:11. When the people came to Moses and repented of their sins this was an act of faith. It was a realization that their judgement of their current situation and of God was wrong and they wanted to do it God’s way again. These people who came repenting were those who were bitten by the fiery snake and potentially were going to die by the venom. They came to Moses and asked for prayer.

God make a way for redemption. When the Israelites sinned against God, they were no longer under God’s protection. Instead, they found themselves in God’s wrath. The wrath of God doesn’t mean that God isn’t gracious. The wrath of God shows us that what God said to Adam was true. In the day that you eat of this fruit, you will die. This death which comes to sinners isn’t just passive, but at times it can be actively done by God. The difference between God’s wrath and a murder is that murderers kill for unjust reasons. The wrath of God is punishment for wrong doing. God has every right to put them to death completely, but instead God make a way for redemption. This is the love of God! Moses makes a bronze serpent and sets it on a pole that if anyone looks upon it they would live instead of dying.

Jesus Christ, the son of God, is the way for redemption which leads to eternal life. The bronze serpent healed the Israelites who in their faith in God looked upon it for healing from their own sinfulness and the wrath of God. Jesus Christ is greater than the bronze serpent, because the serpent’s healing was for this life, but Christ is healing and redemption for eternal life.

4/15/2024 Seeking Jesus for the Right Reasons

I’m reading through John 6:22-42 for the New Testament portion of my bible reading.

 22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.

 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.“

 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?

 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”

 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

 (Jn. 6:22-42 ESV)

As I read this passage, it gives me a sense of what “seeking Jesus” (vs 24) really means and how to do it in a way that leads to salvation instead of dead faith.

It is possible to seek Jesus for the wrong reasons which doesn’t lead to salvation. The crowd was eagerly seeking after Jesus. They even traveled to the other side of the lake to find him. At first, this seems like a good scenario. The Israelites experienced Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish. They also see Jesus with their own eyes. One would think, they are coming into faith in Christ, but Jesus actually makes it clear that they are not seeking him for the right reasons. “You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (vs 26). This make me consider, why do I seek after God? Do I seek after him, because I want him to bless me with materialistic blessings or do I seek after him, because He is the Messiah, the anointed one of God? It challenges me to fine tune the way I seek God. Instead of looking for signs and wonders (vs 30), I’m looking for Jesus Christ, because in him is eternal life (vs 32).

In order to seek Jesus for the right reasons, we must look to the Father. “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (vs 29). The purpose of the Old Testament is to set the stage and prepare for the coming of the son of God, Jesus Christ. The prophecies concerning Jesus Christ throughout the Old Testament is telling of the centrality of Christ in redemptive history. Jesus Christ didn’t appear randomly, but rather purposefully and willfully by the Father. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we are actually obeying the command of the Father to believe in him whom He has sent. By the grace of God, in the act of faith, we are in obedience to God. We see a contrast to this with those replying in the crowd. Instead of focusing on God the Father, they focus on prophets such as Moses. In doing so, they lose sight of God. Jesus Christ came to those who have lost sight of God and directs us back to the Father.

Focus on the Father. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (vs 37-39) The trinity is a hard concept to comprehend. There is only one God, but it’s the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Within the Trinity, we find a repeating pattern. The focus is on the Father and the Father is not the Son and the Father is not the Holy Spirit. They are distinct, but one. When Jesus Christ came to earth, he lived not for his own glory, but rather humbly submitted to the will of the Father. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to work on our hearts, that we may have faith in Christ as the one sent by the Father. How do we focus on the Father? To believe in the Son and to live according to the instruction of the Son. For the Son only lives for the Father. In following the Son, we are led to the Father.

In our fallen nature, it’s possible to seek after God for the wrong reasons. It’s possible to see Jesus Christ face to face and still not believe. It’s possible to follow the Old Testament in a way that doesn’t please God.

God has answers to these problems. He sends the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds that we may see Christ for who he truly is. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith, even though we have not seen Jesus Christ face to face. By having faith in Jesus Christ the one sent by the Father, the righteousness of Christ is imputed unto us. His righteousness has been made our own!!

4/12/2024 The sinful condition of the Human Heart (Part 2)

Today I am meditating on the passage from 1 Samuel 8:4-22. The elders of Israel are now fed up with the judges and their children. The repeated pattern of children turning to disobey God and go after financial gain has given them reason to push back against the current system and demand a system like that of every other nation. They said to Samuel, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

The elders came with genuine concerns. In the previous passage, it said, “But his sons (Samuels sons), did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.” Just like ELI’s sons who were put to death in battle, Samuels sons’ turned aside to dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. The judges were corrupt and judging as a means of financial gain instead of true justice.

This is the condition of the human heart. The human heart gravitates toward greed and evil. Even in the courts of justice, those who were raised up to be a beacon of light have become shadows of darkness. When the human hearts sees money, judgement is weakened and greed sets in. We have this yearning inside of us for financial gain, even if the gain is unlawful or forbidden.

So here the elders are crying out. The system that God has setup isn’t working. The system is broken, because those who run the system are corrupt. We need a way out of this system and into a better system. A better system is to be like every other nation.

While the elders have a good point, God knew their heart and the real reason why they were asking for a King like every other nation. God said, “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.”

This situation isn’t as clear cut and simple as one may assume. On the one hand, we have the judges and their failure to establish even just one generation after them which fears the Lord and upholds justice. Even though the judges have their failures, the Lord God is still the Divine King of Israel. In times past, God has shown himself faithful to Israel by supernatural feats of defeating their enemies even though they were not a powerful army. God fought for them and lead them out of captivity in Egypt through plagues and battling against Pharaoh whom set himself up as a god king.

The better question would of been, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; Inquire of God to give us an answer for this corruption.”

Instead the question was, “You are old, and your sons do no walk in your ways; Gods’ way isn’t working. Let us be like the world.”

We must rightly divide this or else we too will be saying the same thing.

I think this is the reason why many leave the church. They come in hoping to find something that is different than the harsh and cold world around them. Instead of finding a place of peace, corruption and gossip run rampant. In the search, they feel discouraged. In the discouragement they search for something else that isn’t from God, because apparently God’s way isn’t working.

First of all, the corruption and gossip in the church isn’t God’s way. It’s the devils way.

Secondly, the church isn’t a place for perfect people, but rather broken people who are finding their way with God.

Thirdly, even pastors aren’t perfect and they too make mistakes.

Lastly, if everyone followed God’s way perfectly, life would be perfect.

For those who doubt God or are looking for reasons to turn away from God, this is the best and most obvious way it happens.

The truth is, though, that God is working in the midst of a broken an sinful generation. It may not seem like much, but the Holy Spirit is at work. We shouldn’t judge and way God isn’t here, because the health of the church isn’t where I want it to be. Rather, we should look at it as the reality that it really is.

With the broken and sinful generation, like every other generation, trying to live according to God’s narrow path in perfection is impossible. Whether we try our best, somewhere in the test we fail. The focus isn’t the failure, but rather the strength to fight and resistance before the fall. As we mature in Christ, that resistance and strength grows. Where we fall short, Jesus Christ fills in the gap for us.

So next time I go to a church which doesn’t look church enough for me. Instead of Blaspheming the Holy Spirit and declaring that God isn’t here, the more mature thing to say is, God is at work in sinful people. Although they are not perfect, Jesus Christ our savior is perfect. He has filled the gap for all my brothers and sister in Christ. I will love them as much as I am able, but even my own love has it’s limits. God knows me and knows my limits. He pushes me to expands them further. To love a little more. To trust a little more. To suffer a little more for the sake of being molded into the likeness of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Lord God is my King, Father, Savior and Friend.

4/4/2024 The sinful condition of the Human Heart (Part 1)

On 3/8/2024, I wrote about Eli and his sons. Eli the judge allowed for his sons to run rampantly evil and blaspheme the position of the judges and care takers of the temple. In this post, I was very disappointed to see Eli and the way that he allowed his sons to act this way. This post isn’t a redemption for Eli, but it’s more understanding into the complex issue of sin.

Today I’m reading 1 Samuel 8:1-9:27. This passage begins with an all too familiar scenario. Now as Samuel has grown up and had children of his own, I expected them to be better, to act holier than the previous Judge and his sons, but no they are not different. In fact, they were the same. As Samuel came in as God-sent in a time of corruption, in the end Samuel’s sons did the same thing. They too were evil and blasphemed God in their role.

It’s easy for me to think of an easy and quick fix and to write it in a blog post such as this, but I realized this issue is more than just, “We must discipline.” It’s actually God showing us that no matter what prophet or man of God may come and make a change for a moment, the human heart and the condition of it is that of the trajectory of sin and death. If I shout at my children more, perhaps they will be better. If I discipline harder, their hearts won’t be prone to sin. I think there is truth in this, but the truth is, man is inherently evil and though one generation may know God, it doesn’t warrant the next to be the same.

The difference now is that God didn’t just send an anointed person that he has chosen from among his people, but rather God sent His own son, Jesus Christ, to save the lost. To save those like Eli’s sons and those like Samuel’s sons. There is no other answer and there is no other way. It is only through faith in Christ that we find the answer.

So today, as I read this passage, I am humbled to say that answers are easy to give, but the truth remains the same. We are sinners in need of a gracious God to transform us and mold us into something better. Jesus Christ is the only way to God. He is the only way to holiness and righteousness. In Him, we are made righteous in the legal sense, but also internally we are being made righteous in Him.

May I keep my gaze on Jesus, my light and my life.

May I keep my gaze on Jesus, who broke his body for me.

May I keep my gaze on Jesus, who resurected from the grave for me.

May I keep my gaze on Jesus, who prepared a place for me in heaven.

3/28/2023 God is above all and deserves our unwavering attention.

1 Samuel 5:1-7:17

After the Philistines victorious battle over the Israelites, they captured the ark of God and brought it into their temple. They placed the ark of God next to Dagon. Dagon was the god of the Philistines, a god of fertility and agriculture. This became an opportunity to show that the God of Israel isn’t equal to Dagon, but greater.

In the morning, they found Dagon with have face on the ground and placed him back on the altar. The next morning, the same thing happened, but also his head and hands had broken off and lay on the ground. Then, the Philistines became afflicted with tumors. Wherever the Philistines moved the ark, the people of that land would be afflicted with tumors. In the end, no one wanted to take hold of the Ark of God, because of the suffering it caused.

They finally decided to send the Ark of God back to the Israelites.

While the Ark and peace offerings from the Philistines were welcome, 70 Israelites were put to death, because they looked into the Ark of God.

When I meditate on this passage I come to two conclusions.

The first is that God cannot be controlled or used as something like a good luck charm. The problem with the judges of Israel was that they lost their love for God and became sinful before God. They didn’t fear the Lord and blasphemed God by using the temple for their own pleasures and gain. When it was time to battle the Philistines, even the presence of the Ark of God couldn’t help them. This was because God was upset with them and didn’t move on their behalf. When the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they placed it with Dagon to worship as one of their own gods, because they feared the God of the Israelites. So here we are, the Israelites don’t fear the Lord and the Philistines feared the Lord. Why is it then that the God of the Israelites didn’t accept the Philistines fear? It’s because the feared God in an ungodly way. The fear that God taught the Israelites was one of holiness and purity. The Philistines were the opposite of holiness and purity, they were sinful debauchery. It didn’t matter that the Philistines feared God, God was not interested in their fear.

To me, this means that God wants to be worship in the way that He has instructed us to worship Him. We can’t control God. We can only go with the flow or against the flow. The only way that we can go with the flow is to submit ourselves to God and His words. If we don’t submit ourselves to God and His teachings, how can we expect God to move for us in time of need? On the other hand, If we don’t worship God the way He wants to be worshiped, how can we expect to be at peace with God? In both ways, I must relinquish my opinions and secure the word of God as truth and guide in my life. I don’t control God, I let God control me.

Secondly, after reading about the 70 Israelites that were put to death for looking into the Ark, I have this sense that God is loving and merciful, but demands respect and carefulness. I’m not sure what those Israelites were thinking when they opened the Ark up to see what was inside. They were curious to see what this Ark was about, but found out by their death that there are some lines that should never be crossed. Handle God with care, because He is powerful. Handle the word of God with care, because it is powerful. Handle this gift entrusted to me, because it is powerful.

There is no one like my God.

There is no one as gracious.

There is no one as jealous.

There is no one as destructive.

There is no one as redemptive.

There is no one like my God.

3/13/2024 A heart at peace, A kind heart, A heart that honors God.

Proverbs 14:30-31, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

Lately, the Lord has been working on my hear to reflect this passage. He has been teaching me not to envy others who have. It’s been a challenge, because I too have desires of monetary success and materialistic excess. When I see those around me who have attained these things, it’s easy to wish that I had what they had. What I noticed about this is that it’s rot to the bones. When I compare myself to everyone above me it leaves me feeling empty and in poverty, when in reality, the Lord has provided all my needs. It drives me to do things that ought not to be done, to become greedy and chase after money.

The Lord, by His grace and the leading of the Holy Spirit, guided me to green pastures. He showed me that the sum of life isn’t the accumulation of things, but rather submission to God, His words, His precepts, His prophecies and in the end time, His Son. In learning to conform my mind to the Word of God with verses such as these, I’ve learned to curb envy and to focus on what God tells me to focus on.

In this verse, God is teaching me to not be envious, but rather generous. Instead of focusing on what I don’t have, focus on what others don’t have and how which the resources that God has given me, whether great or small, I can honor God with my funds.

When I focus on what others lack, show kindness and supply their needs to honor God in my life… I’m following after the teachings of God, I am fearing the Lord. As I fear the Lord, I find peace. I find life. I find restoration. Only by faith in Jesus Christ does the fear of the Lord manifest as part of Loving God with all my heart, mind and soul. Without Christ, the fear of the Lord is that of raw fear. My fear isn’t raw fear, it’s anchored in my Love and Adoration of the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

3/12/2024 Already, Not Yet

I live in the Already and Not Yet.

Already, I have been perfected, but not yet perfect.

Already, I have eternal life, but not yet in eternity.

Already, I am a citizen of heaven, but not yet in heaven.

Already, I am a saint, but not yet a saint.

Already, I am resurrected in Christ, but not yet resurrected.

I live in the assurance of things hoped for.

I live in the conviction of things not seen.

I live in the Already, Not Yet.

Though I believe and have faith that there will be a day,

where I will be in the Already, Already.

Yes and AMEN!

3/12/2024 I do not accept praises from men.

In this day and age, being public and receiving attention from others has become a staple of society. No longer do people live or even dress for themselves, but rather to receive a reaction from others around them. Mostly, we are being trained to live our lives to be accepted by others. The problem is, others isn’t a general one minded society, but rather individuals which have their own preferences and pet-peeves.

Jesus Christ didn’t care about receiving accolades or praises from other people. He didn’t live his life to please people. He didn’t live his life to be attractive to women. He didn’t live his life to be more powerful that others. Instead, he came humbly to do one thing. He came to fulfill the will of the Father. With this mission mindset, Jesus Christ only cared about pleasing the Father!

This doesn’t mean that Jesus Christ was rude to everyone else. It doesn’t mean that Jesus Christ disregarded or was not compassionate. It doesn’t mean that Jesus Christ didn’t care.

This is the wisdom I need from Jesus Christ. How do I live my life in a way that doesn’t “CARE” about being praised by the world, but at the same time “CARE” for the world which God sent me to?

When I serve others, how do I serve in a way that is authentically and genuinely a desire to share Gods love, but at the same time, serve in a way that doesn’t desire praises from them, but rather from God?

Many times, I was very confused about this, because I too am from this generation.

I see a clearer vision of how to accomplish this through the person and work of Jesus Christ. I serve others in love, but not for their attention or for them to have positive thoughts about me, but rather because I want to please my Father in Heaven, whom has sent His only Son to give us eternal life, which has been promised to me by faith. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care about the feelings of others, because I have empathy, but rather the praise I desire is not from this world, but from heaven, upon the throne, from my Father, God.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS 3/15/2024

A situations happened to me yesterday which made me remember this journal entry. I felt disrespected and unappreciated. In that moment, I combated my desire to be praised by men by reminding myself of this and grounding myself in my desire to be like Christ and in doing so also desiring only praises from God the Father. It felt almost like a test to see if I could apply what I had learned in Gods’ word. Yes, I can say that it does work, but there was a lingering feeling of sadness. The next morning, today, I felt more distant from that scenario, more peaceful and my joy had been restored in the morning. I think if I didn’t combat it and moped around, I would of gone deeper, but instead The Father gave me wisdom through his Son, Jesus Christ, to know how to do this. Thank you God! May I continue to exercise this.

3/8/2024 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22 We must discipline sin.

Eli, a priest, had sons whom were also priests. They were doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Even having unappropriated relations with other women who served in the ministry. God warned Eli about the sins of his children, but Eli did not heed Gods’ warning. Instead, he allowed his sons to continue doing evil before the Lord. In the act of allowing sin to be done, Eli was a supporter and enabler. God also allows us to sin and make mistakes, but He is different, because although it is not his *desire*, he allows it to be part of his will.

In God’s signature way to using the foolish to discipline the wise, He sends Samuel, a young boy anointed by God. This young boy spoke Gods’ words of judgement to the line of Eli. The young boy heard this from God and recited it back to Eli. Eli accepted his fate, the fate of death for him and his sons.

The way God brought death upon them was through a battle with the Philistines. The philistines destroyed the army of Israel. As a reaction, the people decided to bring out the Ark of God, thinking that it would bring about victory. There at the battlefield, the two sons of Eli stood next to the Ark of God. The soldiers were hyped, they shouted a load noise and the Philistines were scared, because they knew of the God of Israel and Ark of God. In the end, the Philistines defeated Israel, stole the Ark and killed Elis’ two sons.

Upon hearing this new, Eli, fell back on his chair and joined his sons in death, leaving behind a widowed wife of the sons, who after hearing the news of of their deaths had a son name Ichabod. She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

As a believer of Jesus Christ, regardless of whether I am a priest, pastor or parishioner, we have a duty as parents to discipline our children, that they would live according to the word of God. Instead of thinking, God will do it, I will let him take care of this problem, we should be the mouthpiece and the disciplinary which pronounces God’s ways to our children.

It’s very sad to me that this had happened. The sons of Eli treated God like one of the other idols. They tried to used God for his powers, but disregard a relationship with him. While things were well, they slept with the other girls, they forced people to offer them foods and they conducted worship in a way that was displeasing to God. When they went to war and were losing, they still tried to used the Ark of God as something like a good fortune artifact. At last, they lost the war and lost the Ark.

Why should I discipline my children and lead them on the path of righteousness? That they would learn to fear the Lord, love the Lord, love His words, love His son and the words of the son of God. I must not be complacent, but at the same time I ought not to become such a great burden that weight of the law overshadows the grace of God. I need to, in Love, by Faith, lead them to what is better, which isn’t mere morality, but the person of Jesus Christ.

This losing of the ARK has such a close relation to the parable of the brides and the wedding feast. In the parable, there were 10 virgin brides, 5 were foolish and 5 were wise. The wise brides prepared for the coming of the bridegroom by purchasing oil for their lamps. The foolish brides didn’t prepare anything. When the bridegroom came in the middle of the night and called the brides to come to the wedding feast, the foolish asked the wise for a share of the oil they had prepared. The wise knew it wasn’t enough for the both of them, so advised that they go in search for it quickly. The wise made it in time, but the foolish were late. At the door, the bridge groom disowned them.

If Eli was wise, he would of disciplined his children to serve God with reverence. If the son’s of Eli were wise, they would of served the Lord in such a position with all their heart, soul and mind. Instead, the children lived according the passions of the flesh and abused others. Eli, in his silence, supported and enabled his sons to live in disobedience. In the end, when they really needed God, God disowned them and they lost the Ark.

If I apply this to myself, as a Christian, a believer of Jesus Christ, I have eternal life. If I live this life in a way that has no regard toward the great gift that has been given to me, how can I expect a better outcome? If I just watch my children live in sin, but do not, in love, discipline them and show them the truth, how can I expect a better outcome? Am I not a bride of Christ? Am I not current in the waiting period before the wedding feast?

Therefore, I will live my life in fear and trembling. I will consider my ways and be careful to be a good steward of this gift of faith in Christ and promise of eternal life.

What good is it for me if I am a bride of Christ, but live my life after the pursuit of the flesh only to find myself rejected at the end…?

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you for your grace and mercy upon my life. I thank you for the word of God which shines a light upon sin and teaches us how to move mountains. Please help me when I am weak and afraid to do what is right, even to speak the truth in times of sensitivity. As I live this life, I ask that I would do so in a way that would be pleasing to you and in my small ways to bring you glory. When my children are walking toward the path of death, please help me not to just watch, but to speak the truth into their lives that they would be challenged in their ways and thoughts. Thank you heavenly Father, for your son Jesus Christ, whom loved, corrected, rebuked and exhorted. May I be blessed to follow in his steps, even to the cross.

In Jesus Christ name I pray, Amen.

3/5/2024 If my glorify myself, my glory means nothing.

On 3/1/2024, I wrote an entry about the concept of God the Father in the Old Testament. Upon my hasty research, I came to the conclusion that the people of Israel, the Jews, didn’t have a concept of God as their Father, but rather as Lord or King. I did a word search of Father in the Old Testament and was only able to find a few verse about it. I realized that it was more nuanced that just simply there being no concept about it. I learned with additional scripture verses that God did consider himself as Father of Israel, but the people of Israel didn’t come to fully realize that the God was their Father. Therefore, the concept was foreign to them, not because it wasn’t taught, but because it wasn’t believed.

Verses where God declares himself as Father:

Hosea 11:1, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.”

Psalms 89:26, “He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation”

Psalms 103:13, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”

Verses where God desires himself to be considered as Father in the Old Testament:

Jeremiah 3:19, “I thought to myself, ‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’ I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’ and I wanted you never to turn from me.”

Verses where God is declared as Father in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 63:16, “But you are our Father, O Lord, We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.”

Isaish 64:8, “And yet, O LORD, you are our Father, We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.”

Psalms 103:13, “The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.”

Psalms 68:5, “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy.”

Verses where Israel is Questioned if they understand that God is Father

Deuteronomy 32:6, “Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t he your Father who created you? He has not made you and established you?”

Malichi 1:6, “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!”

Malachi 2:10, “Have we not one Father? Has not God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Verses where Israel rejected the Father

Hosea 11:3-4, “But the more I called to him, the father he moved from me, offering sacrifies to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him.”

From these verses I’ve come to the conclusion that Israel indeed had been taught that God is their Father and that God desires to be called Father by them, but because of their hardness of heart, they turned toward Idols and worshiped them instead of the true God, the Father God. The era which God incarnated himself through his son Jesus Christ showed the devastating effects of idol worship in the temple. The Pharisees and Sadducees had the out appears of holiness and submission to the law, but inwardly they became human idols. They were objects of worship and praise from the people. When they fasted, they did so with a heavy face to receive consolation. When they made offerings, they did it publicly that others would look up to them. When they prayed, they did so in public so that others would admire their words. Instead of submitting themselves to the Father and making the Father known, they made themselves known. Essentially becoming gods among men based upon their own glory, the glory of their own works.

Jesus Christ on the other hand had works and miracles, but instead of focusing on what he is doing, he constantly revealed where the power was coming from. It was coming from God the Father, the creator of heaven and earth, the savior of Israel from Egypt and now the savior of the WORLD through his one and only son Jesus Christ.

The heavenly father desired for Israel to call Him Father, but they lusted after foreign idols. Jesus Christ was different. He didn’t try to find something better in the world, but rather He upheld HEAVEN. He said that he was the only one to come from heaven, he speaks the words that God speaks and He is doing the work of the Father.

The glory, the power, the awesomeness, the display of splendor was not of the world. It was not of the greatness of gold and silver. It wasn’t from the accumulation of many horses. It wasn’t from having many wives. It wasn’t from wearing the finest linen.

THE GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD CAME FROM FATHER GOD. THIS IS EVERYTHING.

Lord Heavenly Father,

As an immature Christian, I tried to display my glory by the things that I could do, the spiritual exercises that I completed and the studies and degrees I have attained. It seemed this glory was good and was everlasting, but actually they were fleeting and not glorious. As my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ displayed during his time on earth, please help me to submit myself and all of myself to you. To count everything as loss and to consider you my Heavenly Father as the source of all glory, even the glory I found in myself. Help me to decrease that you would increase. Thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord for being Eternal Life. As I settle into the eternal life that has been promised for me, please help me to do so in all humbleness, peace and joy of the Lord.

In Jesus Christ name I pray Amen.

3/5/2024 If I testify about myself, my testimony is invalid.

John 5:31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.”

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the son of God. As the son of God, he has submitted himself to what the Father has spoken. The things that Jesus Christ has spoke to us through the scriptures are the words of the Father. The son has never done anything outside of the authority and guidance of the Father. In doing so, according to the will of God, Jesus Christ also has fulfilled the prophesies and testimonies concerning him from the Father.

To say that I believe in Jesus Christ means to say that I believe in the Father. Why is there this connection and why is it important? What does it matter that Jesus Christ and the Father say and do the same things?

Jesus Christ made this very clear and this is a warning to all other false witnesses or false Christ that rise up after him. Jesus Christ wasn’t some genius who was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time to fulfill the prophecies concerning him. Jesus Christ was the perfect son who submitted himself to the Father, even until the point of death.

When Abraham was given the promise of “being a blessings to many nations”, it came along with a test to see if He would be willing to sacrifice his own son, Isaac, in whom he believed would become a blessing to many generations. The answer was yes, but God sent an angel to stop him.

This was an archetype, a clue of what the Heavenly Father was going to do to his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. It was a prophecy of the willingness of the son. The same willingness we saw in Issac.

Another interesting observation of Christ words is that Jesus Christ believed the things that the Heavenly Father testified, declared and prophesied about him. He believed that the promises of the Father are true.

As the son of God, Jesus Christ, found His glory and testimony, not from himself, but from the Father. His identifying himself as dependent on the Father for all things also demonstrated the trust, faith and belief in the Father.

Lord Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace and mercy in our lives. Thank you for sending your one and only Son, Jesus Christ, as a payment of my sins. I have faith in You, your words, your Son and the words of your Son. I believe that I am who it says I am and I can do what it says I can. Please help me to increase in my faith and live this life following after the path that Jesus Christ has set before me. Please help me to put down my own misconceptions and accept the reality which is Christ, the incarnation of God. In Jesus Christ name I pray, Amen!

2/27/2024 The Fear of the Lord

Proverbs 14:26-27, “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.”

To be feared is to be respected.

In this world, there are two types of people. Those who want to be feared and those who fear the LORD. The reason why we can’t do both is because, when we learn to fear the LORD, we realized that we are not one to be feared, but rather to tremble.

When I lived without the fear of the LORD, I was the king of my own life. I was the chief of my path. What I desired, I took steps toward them. What I lusted after, I allowed myself to pursue them. What I fiend for, I allowed myself to find. The path before me had no guidance, it had no long vision, it was for the day and the hour. It was living in the moment, but not in a good way, but rather after the corrupt desires of my heart. In doing so, if even possible, I stained the reputation of the LORD my God, whom I confessed as my LORD, but in my heart I was my own. I was in confusion, anxiety and stress. It was a road that led to darkness and death. The snares were many and I fell into them willingly only to figure out later what it was. I made the excuse that certainly this is God’s will, because He is allowing me to do this. Since it has come to pass, it was part of God’s will, but it was not God’s desire. He may allow me to go through something, but that doesn’t meant that is what He wants me to go through. God doesn’t desire for us to sin. Remember this.

Now, as a little more mature, a little more wisdom and a little more insight with a clearer faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I have come to a place of the Fear of the LORD. To Fear the LORD means to take him SERIOUSLY. Unlike haphazardly or even half-heartedly, it’s an intensity of submission which leads to peace, joy and love. How then can FEAR lead to peace, joy and love? This Fear of the LORD is to give the upmost respect, honor and glory to God. In doing so, His words, His precepts, His commands, His prophesies and especially His SON are established as the trajectory before me. Instead of gleaning into the word for small tidbits of advice and fortune telling like abilities, the word is the path, it is the way. The word is my guide. The word is living. It enters into my mind and soul and activates and deactivates desires. It turns on the things which bring me life and teaches me to turn away from and have disgust toward that which brings me death. It makes me meticulous in the way I walk, to think twice in the actions I chose and the words that I speak.

The result of the living with the FEAR of the LORD through FAITH in CHRIST is a life where even my enemies can’t find any faults in me. It’s to live in a way where we become instruments of Christ, both of mercy and of judgement. It brings peace, because the ways of the LORD are peace. It brings joy, because the reality of the Kingdom of GOD and the presence of GOD comes into focus, while the world and it’s noise fades away. Walking in a way that is pleasing to God in all areas of life, morality, relationships and finance brings about a footing which is secure and unafraid; even of adversity, even of accusations.

How can I have peace, when others hate me?
How can I have joy, when the world is against me?
How can I be at the green pastures, when incontrollable calamities happen around me?

The Fear of the LORD has guided my steps.

The Fear of the LORD has protected me from traps.

The Fear of the LORD has brought me to a place of security.

How then do I Fear the LORD?

Faith in God.

Faith in Christ.

By believing the words of God and words of his Son, certifying that what they speak is the truth and nothing but the truth; infallible and incontestable. Whatever comes before me and challenges my the existence, the prominence, the glory, the power, the honor, the place of my God, my Gods’ words and also the Son of God, I no longer tremble at that mountain, but I tremble before Him who is greater than all created things, both in heaven and on earth. The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

2/16/2024 Worshiping in Spirit and in Truth

Jesus was at a well when a Samaritan woman came out to draw water. Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water. The Samaritan woman knowing that Jesus was a Jew said, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman, How can you ask me for a drink?” To which came the conversation of Jesus Christ offering the living water which after consumption will no longer be thirsty again.

He then reveals to her that he knows about her life, details which no one else could know.

Jesus then speaks a deeply theological discourse, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

First, he makes the declaration that the old will pass away and the new will come. As for the old, the people of God were instructed to worship at specific places. In the new, the people of God will worship in all nations. The body of Christ, the temple of God, will become worldwide.

Secondly, as for the old, worship of God could only be done by those who participated in circumcision as instructed by God to Moses. In the new covenant with the Messiah, Jesus Christ, there is no longer any confidence in the flesh, but rather in the work of the Holy Spirit. It’s no longer by circumcision, but by being born again by the spirit. As we are born again by the spirit, the gift of faith is activated. The gift of faith is to have a deep conviction in our heart that the Heavenly Father, the prophets sent by God and now through His son, Jesus Christ, has spoken the truth and nothing but the truth. It’s in the work of the Holy Spirit and conviction of the truthfulness of God that we can worship in any location of the world.

In three days, God destroyed the temple. On the third day, Jesus rebuilt the temple. It wasn’t a restoration of the OLD temple, but rather an establishment of a NEW temple. A temple which has no walls or specification location. Rather, as the body of Christ in all nations, we are a collective temple in which worships God in Spirit and in Truth.

Amen and Amen!

2/13/2024 Truth Saves Lives

“A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful.”

Proverbs 14:25

Dear Heavenly Father,

I believe and certify that you speak the truth and have spoken the truth in these last days by your Son, Jesus Christ. Please help me to put off the flesh and the desire to be deceitful and instead that I would, by faith, through your Son speak the truth for the purpose of saving lives. Please help me to die to my flesh and selfish desires. Please help me to strive for the edification of the church and the encouragement of the body. I believe that I can do this, because of your work in my life.

In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

2/5/2024 Born again? How?

What does it mean to be born again?
How can I be born again?

“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.” The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:5.

In order for someone to have true salvation and enter into the Kingdom of God, they must be born of water and the Spirit. The meaning behind being born of water is the birth of the flesh. The water being amniotic fluid.

When a child is born, does that child have a say whether he wants to be born or not? Does the child have a choice? Of course not. The child has no say in whether or not he wants to exist or even to be born. This is something that happens to the child.

When a Christian is born again, does that Christian have a say in whether he wants to be born again or not in the spirit? We may say, it’s completely a choice. It’s a choice that the child of God makes to join into the family of God. Though, this isn’t the case. Faith is a gift from God. Illumination of the word of God as truth comes from the Holy Spirit. When a person enters into a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, they have been brought into that relationship, initiated by God himself. This is completely a work of the Spirit.

The passage says, “The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”

The wind is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit blows where it pleases. We don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.

This is the way that we are born again. It is by the wind, the Holy Spirit which blows where it pleases. By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit has blown toward us, illuminated us, gave us the gift of faith and guides us in this Christian life by Word of God.

Jesus Christ came to save.

He came to save those who could not and cannot save themselves.

He came as the Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

To Him be all glory and honor forever and ever.

2/5/2024 Jesus came to save.

John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

The heavenly Father sent his son to save us, not to condemn us. This should shape the way that I interact and have relationships with the people around me.

This generation loves to judge and assume. When we judge, they judge hard. When we assume the worst, we really in our imaginations with the information given to us imagine the worst of worst scenarios. The assumption then becomes pseudo-reality and the person to whom assumptions then experience negative feedback and responses from the community. Meanwhile, experiencing confusion and feeling disheartened.

In this day and age, with social media and every other avenue of interconnectedness, this has become even more common place.

Saving face vs. Losing face

For the impulsive, causing someone to lose face is but a past-time. A habitual state of gossip and slander.

Everyone has an opportunity to do this.

I found myself in a situation like this.

A small example of this would be of the time that I went to the post office to pick up mail which was certified. The green slip was left at the door of my home. Upon close inspection, the slip was illegible and handwriting was hard to make out. When I arrived at the post office, I gave the slip and the person at the door too made a comment on how it was illegible.

I thought for a moment and said, “It’s probably because the postman/woman had written a thousand of these today and was tired by the time they arrived at my house.”

The person at the door, surprised at my answer replied with, “Thank you for understanding.”

What did my emphatic response do? It saved face, rather than lose face. It covered over.

Christ came to save, not to condemn.

He understands who we are. He understands our weaknesses. He understands our sinful nature. He doesn’t deny them, but at the same time, he doesn’t use these things to condemn us. Instead, he tells us to come as we are, have faith in Him, enter into a relationship with Him and by the power of the Spirit and illumination of the word, be transformed into His likeness.

In my relationships, both at home and around me, I have failed to do this many times. I have failed to exemplify Christ who lives in me. In this, Christ has consolation as he reminds me, I don’t condemn you for that, but you must be corrected.

Similar John 8:11 when Jesus said to the woman, “Neither do I condemn you, go, and from now on sin no more.”

1 John 3:18-23 speaks volumes to me today, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

Sometimes, it isn’t others who condemn us, but even our own hearts. The greatness of this condemnation is incomparable to that from the outside. It’s because we ourselves are our greatest critics. In times where the gospel can’t be for us, that we feel that God certainly can’t love us, should be where we remember this, “GOD IS GREATER THAN OUR HEART.”

In other words, TRUST GOD, TRUST THE WORD, TRUST JESUS CHRIST there is no condemnation, only salvation for those who have faith in the Messiah.

2/1/2024 Jesus, The Lord, in the Psalms 103:1-6

Praise the Lord, all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–.

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Who forgave sins and healed diseases while on earth?
Who redeemed us from the pit and crowned us with many crowns?

Who do we enjoy and glorify as the purpose of our lives?

Jesus Christ, The Messiah, Christ, King of King and Lord of Lords.

1/29/2024 Rich & Poor

“The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.” Proverbs 14:20-21

I don’t think this verse is tells us to be rich. It sounds like a comparison of which is better. The poor are shunned and the rich are popular, but this isn’t the point of the verse.

Actually what the verse is saying is, “You who are rich, instead of despising the poor, be kind to them.” It’s telling those who are in a position of financial security to use some of their funds to bring relief or mercy to those less fortunate. The blessing of the rich isn’t having many friends, or even being rich, it’s actually the ability to use that richness to be kind to the poor.

Lord, I ask that you would help me to live a life of frugality and simplicity that I would have the opportunity to use my funds to be kind to the poor. May I learn the blessings in this life isn’t materialistic increase, but rather to care for the poor around me. In Jesus Christ name I pray Amen.

1/25/2024 Samson and Jesus

SAMSONJESUS
1. An angel of the Lord announces the birth.
2. Born as Nazarite
3. Samson looks to marry his enemy
4. Samson spoke in riddles
5. Judgement upon Philistines
6. Desired the Restoration of Israel
7. Revenge for wife given to friend.
8. Judah brings Samson to Philistine to be punished.
9. Samson strikes down a thousand men.
10. Samson questioned by Delilah to overthrow him.
11. Philistines gouged his eyes out.
12. Philistines mocked Samson
13. Samson sacrificed himself to kill the Philistines.		1. An angel of the Lord announces the birth.
2. Born as Messiah
3. Jesus looks to marry the church
4. Jesus spoke in parables
5. Judgement upon Satan
6. Desired the coming of the Kingdom of God
7. Revenge for making temple a market place.
8. Jews bring Jesus to Pilate to be crucified.
9. Jesus heals the sick and cast out demons.
10. Jesus questioned by Pharisees and Sadducess to overthrow him.
11. Romans wiped and punished Jesus.
12. Jews mocked Jesus
13. Jesus sacrificed himself to defeat Satan/Sin and death.
There are of course many difference, but the major difference is, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the 3rd day.

1/16/2024 Samson, The Most Unusual Nazarite

A Nazarite is described in Number 6 as a person who “clearly utter a vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself unto the LORD.” In verse 8 it says, “All the days of his Naziriteship he is holy unto the LORD.”

Samson was an unusual Nazarite.

Samson wasn’t a nazarite by choice, or making a vow, but rather by birth and prophecy from an angel of the Lord. Part of the Nazarite vow was carried out by the mother, because she was to give birth to a Nazarite.

When I think of holy men who are set apart by God, the image that comes to mind is a timid, self controlled but authoritative figure. Someone who is careful to carry out the laws of God and abhor evil.

Samson was unusual and is still unusual to be, because He didn’t fit the mold of what I considered to be a Nazarite. Let’s dive into his life.

After Samson was born, he was blessed by God and the spirit of the Lord was stirring in him. (Judges 13:24-25) A prodigy is born. A child whose beginning is marked by prophecy and the spirit of the Lord.

All of this gives me a sense of awe and wonder, curiosity of what this boy will do.

The first account of his speech wasn’t that of soundness, but rather odd, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.” Hold your horses Samson. You are a Nazarite! You are living under a vow of consecration unto the Lord. How could you be doing this? How can God consider you Holy when you are looking for a wife from the enemy? A Philistine!

We receive an explains in verse 4, “(His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)” God allowed Samson to marry a woman who wasn’t allowed to be married into Israel for the purpose of carrying out His plan of judgement upon the Philistines. This is very unusual, but still Samson was a Nazarite, holy unto the Lord.

Samson’s unusual strength was revealed as Samson and his parents were waling to Timnah to find Samson’s new wife. Upon the way a lion came roaring toward him. The spirit of the Lord came upon him and he tore the lion in half with his bare hands. He didn’t say anything to his parents, but continued on the journey. This imagery of the carcass will later be used by Samson for a riddle.

As some time passed Samson decided to go back to his Philistine beauty and marry her. His parents followed along the journey again. This time, he decided to go back to the spot where he tore the lion in half. There inside the carcass he found wild honey. He scooped it out and ate some along the journey. When he met his parents, he shared the honey with them. Samson, what are you doing? Don’t you know that touching a dead body or carcass is considered unclean for the Israelites, but here you are scooping honey out of a carcass and eating it? Yet, Samson, still a Nazarite, was holy unto the Lord.

At the wedding day, Samson was given thirty bridegrooms as was the custom of the Philistines. He gives them a riddle, remember the carcass? He said, “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” They must answer this riddle in seven days. If they are correct, they will each receive 30 linen garments and 30 sets of clothes.

After three days, no one could give an answer.

The guests gathered and asked Samson’s wife, the Philistine, to get the answer from Samson and then threatened her, or else we will kill you and your father’s household. She tried her best, but Samson was unwilling to give the answer, because He didn’t even tell His parents.

On the seventh day of he feast they attempted to answer, but was unable to say what Samson wanted to hear. He responds with, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.” In other words, “If you weren’t part of my kingdom, you will not know the answer.”

The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. He strikes down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father’s house. (Judges 14:19-20) Samson, a levite, someone who is considered to be Holy unto the Lord, kills thirty men of the Philistines, takes their belongings and gave their clothes to those who were part of his kingdom and worked for Him.

What I thought was a Nazarite, something like that of a monk, was completely incomprehensive. A Nazarite is a Nazarite, because God calls them a Nazarite. The function of the Nazarite is that of a sword to destroy the works of the enemy. The way God maneuvers this sword through grey area and immoral situations isn’t normal, but a technique that is used for those who are set apart for the purpose of administering God’s judgement.

Based upon the law of the Israelites, Samson wasn’t a star player, but He was still an instrument of God’s judgement upon the Philistines. There are two types of Nazirites. One that take upon themselves a temporary oath and another is a identity given by God. When God calls someone a Nazarite, no matter how the world or even theologians or pastors may judge Him, He is still Holy unto the Lord. Not, because of his own actions, but because God said so.

1/12/2024 Rabbi, Son of God, King of Israel.

“Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.'”

John 1:49

1/10/2024 The Simple, the Prudent, the Wise and the Fool.

“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps. A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.”

Proverbs 14:15-16

Too many times have I been simple.

More than I can count, a fool.

By the grace of God

I’m being transformed

into a wise man who fears the Lord

and a prudent man who gives thoughts to his steps.

1/4/2024 Jephthahs’ Promise

“If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

Judges 11:30

This passage scares me, but also leaves me in awe.

Jephtah and his men were headed to battle against the Ammonites. Jephtah knew the size and capabilities of their army as feared them. In his fearing of man, instead of God, he makes a promise. A promise which Jephtah at the time didn’t know would bring him to tears. Later on in the chapter it’s revealed that the first to come out of his house was his only daughter. She came out with tambourine and celebrated the defeat of the Ammonites. Jephtahs’ heart, what words can describe the implosion of his reality to sink in.

All that she could of become.

All that she could of experienced in her life.

All the things she missed out on including having her own family.

Jephtah did according to what he promised to the LORD.

This passage scares me, because of the promises that I had made to God in my life. The ones that I spoke out in the midst of great emotion, have I carried them out? The things that I have spoken to God that I would do for Him, have I made an effort to do those things? Have I made myself available for those things?

The answer is actually, no.

It’s time to make them, ‘Yes.”

This is what brings me to awe.

Jephtah promised to sacrifice her daughter on accident. It had to be on accident, why? Why? Who in the world would sacrifice their own child for anything even for victory in battle? Who? It is totally contrary to surviving and thriving. It’s total contrary to a healthy development of a child into an adult which parents innately desire.

Why? To sacrifice something means to destroy it. It means to take it’s life. We don’t believe in reincarnation. There is no second chance as another life form. It’s the end. Who wants that for their own child, let alone an only child. It doesn’t matter of the only child is a boy or girl. It’s equally heartachingly painful.

Then, how in the world did the Heavenly Father knowingly and purposely promise and prophecy of the sacrifice of His only Son? It wasn’t by accident, he purposefully and knowingly prepared His only Son as the final sacrifice for sin.

This brings me to awe.

What Jephthah did on accident to triumph over the Ammonites and regrettably sacrificed his only daughter,

God purposefully and knowingly did for triumph over sin and death by the sacrifice of his only son.

10/2/2023 The Finger of God

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.”

Luke 11:20

8/31/2023 Christ the King

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.”

Deuteronomy 17:14

As I meditated on this passage for a few weeks, I couldn’t get over how it contained what seems to be very innocent and natural progression of society was actually an act of dethroning the true God King. It may not seem this way in Deuteronomy, but when I look further into 1st Samuel this act is shed in the light of truth.

And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his first-born was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba. 3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.

1 Sam. 8:1-3 NAS

In 1st Samuel, the Israelites are now living in the long awaited promise land. The system of government which God established as through judges. Until this point, they had no king. There came a problem when the son of Samuel whom also were judges became corrupt for monetary gain and perverted justice. The Israelites now had good reason to demand for a king.

5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

(1 Sam. 8:5 NAS)

They brought their valid point to Samuel. “Samuel! You’ve grown into an old man and your sons are evil and corrupt! Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations!” This was the fulfilment of Deuteronomy 17:14. Almost word for word, “Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” “Let us set a king over us like all the nations.” If this was all the information that I had received, I would believe that this was the true reason that the Israelites wanted to set a king over themselves to rule and judge them. It makes sense.

But, God pulls back yet another layer and shows the true motive behind this seemingly innocent and natural request.

7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”

1 Samuel 8:7

The real reason why Israel would ask for a king was because they have already rejected the true God, the True King, YHWH. The reason why the Heavenly Father purposely setup judges instead of a King, was because He Himself was the King. God didn’t merely want to be some invisible entity to be worshiped, but actually He was to be the God King of Israel whom would be feared by all nations, because they would know the power and security brought by YHWH.

Instead of keeping faith in the true God, the true King whom would lead them into peace and security, they rejected Him and served other gods.

7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.” “Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day– in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods– so they are doing to you also.”

1 Samuel 8:7-8

I see more clearly now that the reason why Israel would ask for a king was, because they have forsaken YHWH and served other gods. With all that I have now if I were to combine the two books, it would read this way.

“When you enter the land the LORD is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, the sons of the judge I have appointed will become corrupt after dishonest gain, then you will say to the judge, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” But, the true reason why you will request this from me is because you have rejected Me as your king. From the day I brought you out of EGYPT and beyond, you will forsake me and serve other gods. Even though you have rejected me and served other gods, accept the King I have chosen.”

Even though you have rejected me, true YHWH as king, accept the King I have chosen.

  1. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 
  2. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself
  3. or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’
  4. And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away,
  5. nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
  6. “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests.
  7. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 
  8. that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers,
  9. and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
  10. Traits of the Chosen King, seen in Christ Jesus.
    1. His lineage through both Mary and Joseph trace back to King David and Israelite.
    2. He never owned a horse, he borrowed a donkey.
    3. He never caused the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses.
    4. He never acquired for himself many wives. He had none.
    5. He never acquired excessive silver or gold.
    6. He is currently seated at the Right Hand of the Father, on the throne. He is the word incarnate.
    7. His earthly ministry showed that Jesus only feared and entrusted Himself to the Father.
    8. He was humble, washing the feet of the disciples and obeying the Father unto death on the cross.
    9. He never once sinned. Therefore, Jesus Christ, will have an everlasting kingdom; New Heavens and New Earth.

2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”

(Lk. 23:2 NAS)

Sad to say, the Israelites didn’t accept the Chosen King. In fact, just as they had rejected the Father as their own God and King, they rejected the Son, whom was sent by the Father. Although their rejection was apparent, so was the idea that the Christ was King. In their accusation, they mentioned that Jesus claimed to be Christ, but also added “A King.” This may have been to incur a greater reaction from the government in order to justify the death penalty. Which very well may be the case, but it also shows that the two go hand in hand.

16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

(Rev. 19:16 NAS)

This description of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelations ties this all together very nicely.

Amen and Amen.

Jesus Christ, our brother, friend, savior, King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

To Him be glory and honor forever and ever!

8/4/2023 – Deeper Understanding of the Grace of God given to me.

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-for she loved much. But he who has forgiven little loves little.”

Luke 7:47

In this chapter, news broke out in a town that Jesus was coming to eat at the Pharisee’s house. This is odd to me, because until this point, in the book of Luke, the Pharisees rejected the baptism of John, questions Jesus’s motives, his miracles and tried to fault Him with the law.

After hearing of the presence of Jesus at the Pharisee’s house, a woman goes to meet him. This woman isn’t a devote follower of Judaism, nor is she a spiritualist type of woman, actually Luke describes her as a sinful woman. Someone known in the community that conducts herself in a sinful way.

With her, she brings an alabaster jar of perfume. Alabaster is a beautiful soft and elegant stone which looks something like white marble. She brings her most prized possession and begins to weep at the feet of Jesus.

She wets his feet with her tears.

Drop after drop.

She then uses her hair to wipe them.

She kisses them and pours perfume on them.

The Pharisees misread her motives and complained, “If he knew who was touching her, he wouldn’t let her toucher her.” If he knew the type of sinner that she is, Jesus would step away. Meanwhile, believing that he himself is worthy to house the Son of God. This is what self-righteousness looks like.

Self-righteousness is the belief that oneself has attained righteousness through the following of the law. Meanwhile, forgetting that the purpose of the law is for the exposure and knowledge of sin. Self-righteous people condemn those they don’t believe to be righteous. A more relevant word would be canceled, I suppose.

Jesus knew her true motives.

Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Luke 7:41-42

Jesus knew that true reason why this sinful woman came to him. She knew that she was a sinner in need of forgiveness. She knew that this forgiveness was only possible through the Messiah, Jesus.

I’ve been through these tears as I was lead into a spiritual wilderness. A dark and quiet place. In and through it, I learned that I am nothing without God. I need him desperately.

Jesus goes on the explain that how much we love God depends on how we view ourselves; how we gauge and estimate the greatness of our sins.

We all come from a level playing field of sin. We all fall short of the glory of God. The sins of the sinful woman are due error which has it’s consequence of eternal death. The sins of the Pharisees are due error which has it’s consequences of eternal death. Both the sinful woman and the Pharisee are sinners before God.

Though, the posture of how they come before God changes how much they love God.

I can see this in my own life.

The more Self-Righteous I became, the less I love God and love myself more.
The more Self-Realization of Sin and Repentance, the more I love God and less my self.

“Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.'”

Luke 7:48

When I read these words, I pray my heart be like the sinful woman, who wept at the feet of Jesus and anointed Him with her most precious possessions, because of her humble and sincere repentance and faith in the Messiah.

7/30/2023 – Love the Unloveable (Part two)

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies.”

Luke 6:27a

What is love?

I ponder this from time to time. What is love?

What is love when it comes to food?

I can say that I love to eat at McDonalds.

Why do I love to eat at McDonalds?

  1. The taste is good and familiar.
  2. The price is not so expensive.
  3. The food comes out quickly.

In this list, there are no bad reasons. Only Good. We usually love something, because it is loveable.

But, what about when it comes to people?

What does it mean to love another human being?

Yes, I can love people who are nice to me.

Yes, I can love people who respect me.

Yes, I can love people who bless me.

But, what about those who aren’t nice to me?
But, what about those who don’t respect me?
But, what about those who curse me?

What does it mean to love another human being that hates you?

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners’ love those who love them.”

Luke 6:32

God teaches us that we ought to love, not only those who are loveable, but those who hate us as well.

Here comes the problem.

I love food, because it tastes good.
I love people, because they are fun to be around.

What is loveable about someone who hates you?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even if we can try to find reasons, we can’t find any. Why? They hate me and have ill will toward me. I don’t want to hang around these types of people.

But, God is teaching me, “LOVE THE UNLOVEABLE!”

This is where I cry out to God. GOD GOD, how can you ask me to do the impossible? God, do you understand what I’ve gone through because of these people? Do you know the pain and suffering I’ve experienced because of these people? God you can’t be serious, you want me to “LOVE THE UNLOVABLE!”?!?

I’m complaining.

I’m pointing fingers.

I’m laying on the floor, don’t want to move.


God how? How do you expect me to do this?

Actually, God teaches us HOW!

How can I, “LOVE THE UNLOVABLE!”?

It begins with realizing that God loved me first while I was an enemy of God.

“While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”

Romans 5:10

When God says, “Love your enemies.” He’s asking us to do something that He has already done.

Think about how many times in your life, you rebelled against God.

Think about how many times in your life, you when your way.

Think about how many times in your life, you hated God.

Think about how many times in your life, you cursed God.

Think about how many times in your life, you mistreated God.

Instead of God hating you back.

Instead of God cursing you back.

Instead of God mistreating you back.

What did God do?

He did good to me.
He loved me.

He chose me.

He sent this own Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in my place.

He redeemed me.

He saved me.

He adopted me.

He glorified me.

“Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Luke 6:27-28

When I love the unlovable, I begin to experience the love that God has for me and for you.

Although, in Christianity, we don’t look for EXPERIENCES, we look to the BIBLE for guidance, but as we look into the bible for guidance, we realize that there are EXPERIENCES that God was us to have.

The experience of loving the enemy, loving the unlovable, loving those who hate me expands my mind to understand the hurdles and obstacles that couldn’t stop God from loving me.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

The love of God is unstoppable for those it has been appointed to.

How do I love the unloveable?
How do I show mercy to them?

By the love of God which I have received by faith in Jesus Christ, I pray that I will have the same type of love for my enemies, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate my enemies from my LOVE.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Luke 6:36

I show mercy, because my Father was merciful to me.

I love, because my Father loves me.

I know myself enough to say that God shouldn’t of saved me.

I should of been condemned into the outer darkness.

I should of been cast into the eternal fire.

But, instead God loved me.

Therefore, I will love my enemies.

I will do good to them.

I will bless them.

I will pray for them.

I will lend to them without expecting anything in return.

I will not judge them.

I will not condemn them.

I will forgive them.

7/26/2023 – Love the Unloveable (Part One)

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.“

Through many times in my life, this verse has been an encouragement to me and given me strength in times of weakness, because it was a reminder that God sees the suffering and hardships that I experience. The tears that are shed, God sees them and will bring me relief. The rejections that I experience, because I chose to live according to God’s word instead of following after the pattern of the flesh.

The verses afterwards feel like vindication for the suffering experienced in this life. The finger turned around and now pointing at the predators. The slanderers and the back-stabbers. The ones who defame and cause financial harm for self benefit.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”

It’s basically saying, “They will receive just punishment. They will suffer.”

The first human intuition is to feel justified and a sense of closure for all the suffering that had been experienced.

“Thank you God, finally, they will get what they deserve!”

This is wrong and not of God.

The following verse reveals the way in which we ought to treat those who “will go hungry, will mourn and weep.” God is teaching us how to love our enemies.

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also, If someone take your cloak , do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

  1. Love your enemies
    1. Do good to those who hate you
    2. Bless those who curse you
    3. Pray for those who mistreat you
    4. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.
    5. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.
    6. Give to everyone who asks you.
    7. If anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
    8. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

What does loving my enemy look like?

  1. Even though they hate me and wish ill upon me, I will do good to them.
  2. Even though they curse me, I will bless them.
  3. Even though they mistreat me, I will pray for them.
  4. Even though they strike me, I will allow them to strike me again.
  5. Even though they steal from me, I will allow them to steal more.
  6. When they ask from me, I will give.
  7. When they take from me, I don’t demand it back.

As I read this, my first initial though is, this is crazy. This is totally counter-survival and counter-cultural. It’s against the humane instincts within me. Abba Father, how can you ask me to love someone who hates me? Abba Father, do you know the curses they spoke to me? Do you know the types of things they said about me which weren’t true? Abba Father, do you know the ways they mistreated me? Did you see how they slandered and turned against me? Abba Father, did you see this man attack me? Did you see the way that he hit my head?

I begin to cry out to God, GOD GOD, look at what they did!

Instead of going deeper in their sins, I’m reminded of my own.

  1. I remember that I was once an enemy of God.
  2. I remember that I would curse God for the situations in my life.
  3. I remember that I mistreated God by taking advantage of His grace.
  4. I remember that I still even now at moments, grieve the Holy Spirit.

God loved me when I was an enemy.

God loved me when I cursed him.

God loved me when I mistreated him and took advantage of His grace.

God loved me even when I grieved His Spirit.

Then, The questions change from, look at what they did to me to LOOK AT WHAT GOD DID FOR ME.

LOOK AT WHAT GOD DID FOR ME!

LOOK AT HOW GREAT HIS GRACE WAS FOR ME!

LOOK AT HOW GREAT HIS PATIENCE WAS FOR ME!

LOOK AT HOW GREAT HIS MERCY IS UPON ME!

As God is merciful to me,

One who used to be His enemy;

how can I not be merciful to my enemies.

Love those who cause me to be poor.
Love those who cause me to be in hunger.

Love those who cause me to weep.

Love those who reject me because of my faithfulness to Christ.

Love the rich.

Love the well-fed.

Love those who laugh now.
Love those who are loved by all, because of their sinful tendencies.

Love our enemies.

Love those that hate you.
Love those that curse you.

Love those that mistreat you.

Love those that strike you.

Love those that steal from you.

Love those who asks from you.

Love those that take from you.

The more I meditate on this recurring concept of love in scripture, the more clearly I see that Love isn’t simply and emotion, but it’s a powerful instrument of healing and contentment. It turns the victim into a victor.

By loving those who cause me to be poor, I am blessed.

By loving those who cause me to be hungry, I am blessed.

By loving those who cause me to weep, I am blessed.

By loving those who hate me, I am blessed.

Why are I blessed?

  1. We are blessed, first, because God blessed us with His Love and Mercy even though we were enemies of God. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) The first blessing isn’t what we are doing, but what has been done to us. God love us and was merciful to us, therefore has forgiven us and saved us from sin and death to eternal life. If we have experienced and believe in such a great mercy which has been extended to us, how natural it should be for us to do the same for others.
  2. We are blessed, secondly, because God has a reward system in place for suffering in this life. He promises that for every suffering in this life for the sake of Christ, when we turn to God and depend on him, trusting in His ways and obeying His Command of Love, there are GREAT rewards waiting for us in heaven which no earthly bounty can ever compare. (Luke 6:23) No sum of money, both great or small, no treasure trove or grand collection could ever compare to the rewards which are waiting for us in the New Heavens and the New Earth. These rewards are unlike the rewards of earth which rust and are destroyed over time. They are rewards which last for eternity.

The Old Testament tell us to Love God and Love our neighbors.

The New Testament tell us to also Love our enemies.

Just as God loved us when we were enemies of God and changed us into children of God, so we are to love our enemies in hopes of being an instrument of the Father to save even those who need to cross the eye of a needle by His grace alone.

6/22/2023 – Love

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins.” Luke 5:37

The old wine skin and new wine skin represents the old covenant and new covenant of God. Although they are from the same God, they are different in how they function and operate.

The old wine and wineskin is the old covenant which relies upon perfect obedience to the Law of God as given to man through the prophet Moses and the people of Israel.

The Law of God is fair. It dispenses proper punishments.
The Law of God is precise. Small or large, it is judged rightly.
The Law of God is to receive what we deserve. It demands repayment.

The new wine and wineskin is the new covenant which establishes it’s obedience upon the person and work of Yeshua Messiah. We as believers of Christ are transformed into the likeness of our savior. The likeness of Love and Mercy.

Love isn’t fair. It’s doesn’t require just recompense.
Love is gracious and merciful. It counts no wrongs.
Love gives what isn’t deserved. It releases debts.

The new wine and wineskin goes beyond the Law of God.

The new wine and wineskin goes beyond fairness.

The New wine and wineskin goes beyond receiving just repayment.

  1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
  2. You shall make no idols.
  3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
  4. Keep the Sabbath day holy
  5. Honor your father and your mother
  6. You shall not murder
  7. You shall not commit adultery
  8. You shall not steal
  9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
  10. You shall not covet
  1. I love and worship only one God.
  2. I love and worship only one God.
  3. I will sing praises to the Lord!
  4. I will keep the Sabbath Holy!
  5. Honor your father and mother.
  6. I will be a life-giver.
  7. I will help marriages grow stronger.
  8. I will live with a heart of charity.
  9. I will speak with love and gentleness.
  10. I will bless others.

4/27/2023 – Meditating

Giving to the Needy (In Secret)

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. -> If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. -> Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 

4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer (In Secret)

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. -> Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 

8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 

15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting (In Secret)

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 

18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven (In Secret -> Reward In Heaven)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 

23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Do Not Worry (Live Today, In Faith)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 

27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 

29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 

30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

If you made it this far, you’ve read until the end. I’ve kept it simple for low bandwidth usage.

God bless you!

Trust God Always!