Just sharing.

[beensetfree]

For Unto Us A Child Is Born...
Prophecy Fulfilled in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth


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The birthplace of Messiah would be the little village of Bethlehem

Prophecy:

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

Micah 5:2

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fulfillment:

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

Matthew 2:1-2 (see also Luke 2:4-7, John 7:41,42)


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The promised Messiah would be rejected by His own people

Prophecy:

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

Isaiah 53:3

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fulfillment:

"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.

"Barabbas," they answered.

"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.

They all answered, "Crucify him!"

"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

Matthew 27:21-23 NIV

(see also Mark 15:9-15, Luke 23:18-21, John 1:11)


______________

We need a Savior because we are sinners,
and the wages of sin is death...

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith;
the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“I will make thy windows of agates.”

Isaiah 54:12

The church is most instructively symbolized by a building erected by heavenly power, and designed by divine skill. Such a spiritual house must not be dark, for the Israelites had light in their dwellings; there must therefore be windows to let the light in and to allow the inhabitants to gaze abroad. These windows are precious as agates: the ways in which the church beholds her Lord and heaven, and spiritual truth in general, are to be had in the highest esteem. Agates are not the most transparent of gems, they are but semi-pellucid at the best:

“Our knowledge of that life is small,
Our eye of faith is dim.”


Faith is one of these precious agate windows, but alas! it is often so misty and beclouded, that we see but darkly, and mistake much that we do see. Yet if we cannot gaze through windows of diamonds and know even as we are known, it is a glorious thing to behold the altogether lovely One, even though the glass be hazy as the agate. Experience is another of these dim but precious windows, yielding to us a subdued religious light, in which we see the sufferings of the Man of Sorrows, through our own afflictions. Our weak eyes could not endure windows of transparent glass to let in the Master's glory, but when they are dimmed with weeping, the beams of the Sun of Righteousness are tempered, and shine through the windows of agate with a soft radiance inexpressibly soothing to tempted souls.

Sanctification, as it conforms us to our Lord, is another agate window. Only as we become heavenly can we comprehend heavenly things. The pure in heart see a pure God. Those who are like Jesus see him as he is. Because we are so little like him, the window is but agate; because we are somewhat like him, it is agate. We thank God for what we have, and long for more. When shall we see God and Jesus, and heaven and truth, face to face?

 

[beensetfree]

Mark of the Beast? Microchips to replace credit cards, car keys


This is not a joke or fake news. This is actually happening right now.
The Independent reports that Swedish workers were implanted with microchips– the size of one grain of rice– to replace cash cards and ID passes.
Microchips are injected in between the thumb and index figure and injected with a syringe.
The Associated Press reports:

“What could pass for a dystopian vision of the workplace is almost routine at the Swedish startup hub Epicenter. The company offers to implant its workers and startup members with microchips the size of grains of rice that function as swipe cards: to open doors, operate printers, or buy smoothies with a wave of the hand.”​

The injections have become so popular that workers at Epicenter hold parties for those willing to get implanted.
Could this be anymore insane? Or stupid?
Patrick Mesterton, co-founder and CEO of Epicenter, says the microchip basically “replaces a lot of things you have, other communication devices, whether it be credit cards or keys.”
The human microchip is similar to the one used for pets. Except these chips show how often an employee comes to work or what they buy at a store.
Epicenter oversees more than 100 companies and roughly 2,000 employees. It began implanting some employees with microchips four years ago, in January 2015


A volunteer getting a chip implanted in his hand (EPA)


Microchips use near field communication (NFC) technology– the same used for contactless credit cards or mobile payments– to transfer a small amount of data between two devices through electromagnetic waves.

Imagine having your hand hacked– which is a huge possibility.
According to Ben Libberton, a microbiologist at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute, he told the AP that hackers “could conceivably gain huge swathes of information from embedded microchips,” creating huge ethical dilemmas. (No kidding.)

“The data that you could possibly get from a chip that is embedded in your body is a lot different from the data that you can get from a smartphone,” he told the AP. “Conceptually you could get data about your health, you could get data about your whereabouts, how often you’re working, how long you’re working, if you’re taking toilet breaks and things like that.”

Microchips throw privacy out the window. Imagine all of the data collected and stored in your hand– what happens to it, who uses it, for what and why– is completely out of the control of the user. People who willingly become chipped are quite literally giving their lives away.
This is truly sick: “The implants have become so popular that Epicenter workers stage monthly events where attendees have the option of being “chipped” for free.”

 

[beensetfree]

For Unto Us A Child Is Born... To Die
Prophecy Fulfilled in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth


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Messiah would be sacrificed before the Temple was destroyed

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary"

Daniel 9:26 KJV


______________

"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent"

Matthew 27:50-51 KJV

(In about 70 AD the Temple was destroyed in the sack of Jerusalem by the soldiers of Titus)


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The same mountain where The Lord tested Abraham in the sacrifice of Issac would be the place where Messiah would be killed

Prophecy:

"And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen."

Genesis 22:14

Fulfillment:

"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."

Luke 23:33


______________

We need a Savior because we are sinners,
and the wages of sin is death...

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith;
the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“I am crucified with Christ.”

Galatians 2:20

The Lord Jesus Christ acted in what he did as a great public representative person, and his dying upon the cross was the virtual dying of all his people. Then all his saints rendered unto justice what was due, and made an expiation to divine vengeance for all their sins. The apostle of the Gentiles delighted to think that as one of Christ's chosen people, he died upon the cross in Christ. He did more than believe this doctrinally, he accepted it confidently, resting his hope upon it. He believed that by virtue of Christ's death, he had satisfied divine justice, and found reconciliation with God.

Beloved, what a blessed thing it is when the soul can, as it were, stretch itself upon the cross of Christ, and feel, “I am dead; the law has slain me, and I am therefore free from its power, because in my Surety I have borne the curse, and in the person of my Substitute the whole that the law could do, by way of condemnation, has been executed upon me, for I am crucified with Christ.”

But Paul meant even more than this. He not only believed in Christ's death, and trusted in it, but he actually felt its power in himself in causing the crucifixion of his old corrupt nature. When he saw the pleasures of sin, he said, “I cannot enjoy these: I am dead to them.” Such is the experience of every true Christian. Having received Christ, he is to this world as one who is utterly dead.

Yet, while conscious of death to the world, he can, at the same time, exclaim with the apostle, “Nevertheless I live.” He is fully alive unto God. The Christian's life is a matchless riddle. No worldling can comprehend it; even the believer himself cannot understand it. Dead, yet alive! crucified with Christ, and yet at the same time risen with Christ in newness of life! Union with the suffering, bleeding Saviour, and death to the world and sin, are soul-cheering things. O for more enjoyment of them!

 

[beensetfree]

For Unto Us A Child Is Born... The Son of God
Prophecy Fulfilled in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth


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Messiah would be the Son of God

Prophecy:

"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?"

Proverbs 30:4

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fulfillment:

"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Matthew 3:16-17

(see also: Luke 1:31-35; John 1:34; 2 Peter 1:17)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Prophecy:

"I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee."

Psalm 2:7

Fulfillment:

"For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."

Hebrews 1:5-6

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But God raised him from the dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

Acts 13:30-33


______________

We need a Savior because we are sinners,
and the wages of sin is death...

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith;
the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“And lay thy foundations with sapphires.”

Isaiah 54:11

Not only that which is seen of the church of God, but that which is unseen, is fair and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah's work everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean. The deep foundations of the work of grace are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able to measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in vain. Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the lifetime of the Almighty.

Another foundation is the person of the Lord Jesus, which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the sapphire; blending in one the deep blue of earth's ever rolling ocean and the azure of its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the ruby as he stood covered with his own blood, but now we see him radiant with the soft blue of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are clear and cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating justice, or law suspending its operations; no, we defy the eagle's eye to detect a flaw in the groundwork of our confidence—our foundation is of sapphire, and will endure the fire.

The Lord himself has laid the foundation of his people's hopes. It is matter for grave enquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a basis. Good works and ceremonies are not a foundation of sapphires, but of wood, hay, and stubble; neither are they laid by God, but by our own conceit. Foundations will all be tried ere long: woe unto him whose lofty tower shall come down with a crash, because based on a quicksand. He who is built on sapphires may await storm or fire with equanimity, for he shall abide the test.

 

[beensetfree]

GOD'S MOTIVE: LOVE

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:16-18)

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a good indication of how Jesus wants his followers to love people--even if we have very little in common with those people. In John 4:1-26 Jesus has an encounter that indicates just how deep our love should flow.

While in a Samaritan town called Sychar, Jesus stopped at a well where a local woman was drawing water. "Will you give me a drink?" he asked her.

The woman was shocked. The idea of a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman was so culturally out of bounds, she barely knew what to say. Here's how the conversation played out, according to Scripture:

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

"I have no husband," she replied.

Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

This is a life-changing story, not just for the Samaritan woman but for all followers of Jesus. In it Jesus shows us how to love unloved people.


*One fell swoop to abolish racism*

Notice that Jesus took a walk through Samaria, something Jews never did because of violent separatism in the culture. As I mentioned in chapter one, Samaritans were half-blooded people. The Assyrian invaders who had occupied Israel took wives and began producing mixed-race children. In response the Jews ostracized the half-breeds, believing they were only half-pure before God.

When Jesus took time out of his day to sit with someone of such an "impure" lineage, he brought attention to the absurdity of racism. When Jesus looked at people, he didn't see skin color or nationality or ethnic background. He saw their need for love. Check the New Testament, and you'll find that Jesus gave his time to all groups of people.


*One fell swoop to affirm women*

Jesus showed men how to love women, not in a sexual way but in a spiritual way?a practical way. In the New Testament culture of the Middle East, women were considered to be little more than servants to men. Jesus, by sitting and talking with a Samaritan woman, began validating women as equals of men.

His attitude was nothing short of revolutionary. From his friendship with Mary and Martha to his healing of Peter's mother-in-law to his first post-resurrection appearance, Jesus left no doubt that women were a central part of his ministry?and key figures in spreading his gospel.


*One fell swoop to advocate forgiveness*

The woman Jesus approached had been married five times. What's more, she was living with a man who wasn't her husband at all. Jesus certainly knew about her sin of adultery, but it didn't stop his relentless pursuit to help her in times of need. Jesus didn't judge her before she had the ability to choose truth. He saw her need and helped her reach the object of her desire.

 

[beensetfree]

Honesty
The LORD abhors dishonest scales,
but accurate weights are his delight.

Proverbs 11:1 NIV

__________________

Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

Micah 6:10-12 KJV

__________________

He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity,
He who rejects unjust gain
And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;

He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

He will dwell on the heights,
His refuge will be the impregnable rock;
His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

Isaiah 33:15,16 NASB

__________________

So now, come back to your God! Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God.

But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales - they love to cheat.

Hosea 12:6,7 NLT

__________________

Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.”

Ezekiel 16:10

See with what matchless generosity the Lord provides for his people's apparel. They are so arrayed that the divine skill is seen producing an unrivalled broidered work, in which every attribute takes its part and every divine beauty is revealed. No art like the art displayed in our salvation, no cunning workmanship like that beheld in the righteousness of the saints. Justification has engrossed learned pens in all ages of the church, and will be the theme of admiration in eternity. God has indeed “curiously wrought it.”

With all this elaboration there is mingled utility and durability, comparable to our being shod with badgers’ skins. The animal here meant is unknown, but its skin covered the tabernacle, and formed one of the finest and strongest leathers known. The righteousness which is of God by faith endureth for ever, and he who is shod with this divine preparation will tread the desert safely, and may even set his foot upon the lion and the adder.

Purity and dignity of our holy vesture are brought out in the fine linen. When the Lord sanctifies his people, they are clad as priests in pure white; not the snow itself excels them; they are in the eyes of men and angels fair to look upon, and even in the Lord's eyes they are without spot. Meanwhile the royal apparel is delicate and rich as silk. No expense is spared, no beauty withheld, no daintiness denied.

What, then? Is there no inference from this? Surely there is gratitude to be felt and joy to be expressed. Come, my heart, refuse not thy evening hallelujah! Tune thy pipes! Touch thy chords!

“Strangely, my soul, art thou arrayed
By the Great Sacred Three!
In sweetest harmony of praise
Let all thy powers agree.”

 

[beensetfree]

Why Jesus Spoke Hard Words


Jesus spoke some very controversial verses in the Bible, many of which are still controversial, so here are some of Jesus’ most controversial statements in the Bible and why He said them.

Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
If you read this at face value and without reading the context, you might think this is a command to hate your own family, but context is king since taking texts out of context can create a pretext, and often, a false one, so looking at the context is critical to understanding Scripture. The context of this radical verse rests within the costly call of discipleship, and a costly call it is. Sometimes it costs familial relationships and personal friendships, but Jesus is not saying that we must actually hate our family, but when we follow Jesus, our devotion to Him is so strong that it looks like hate to the world. Jesus is incomparable. He is before all things and has preeminence before all people (Matt 6:33).

Matthew 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Jesus uses some extreme words here to be sure, but again, we must look at the context, and what He is saying is that we must take extreme or radical measures to deal with ongoing, besetting sins. One example was when I was counseling a young married man who had an addiction to pornography. I told him about this verse and said it would be like getting rid of the Internet. At first, it might seem to be an overreaction, but I asked him, “How badly do you want to overcome this?” and “Isn’t saving your marriage worth it?” By cutting off the source of pornography, it could be seen as cutting off a hand that was causing him to offend, and sin before God and his wife and family.

Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
Why people who have trusted in Christ are never persecuted is a mystery to me because the Apostle Paul said “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12), and the last time I checked the Greek (“pas”), all still means all, so the problem is either the believer is living a life of isolation or they do not desire to live a godly life, and if that’s the case, they might want to read 1 John chapter 3 and do a self-examination. Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” (2 Cor 13:5)!

Jesus did not bring the good news to solve our every problem, including personal relationships. He said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matt 10:34-36), so again Jesus says, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 14:26).

Hard Sayings
Jesus said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt 16:25), which brings light to Philippians 1:21 where Paul wrote, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Paul understood the cost of following Jesus and why Jesus would say, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”(Luke 9:23).

For most of us, it won’t be losing our life, but losing some of our time, talent, and treasure; in short, our life. As we sow these three into the kingdom, it denies the world’s conventional thinking because “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. For even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:26-27). Jesus spoke such hard words in order to soften the hard hearts and humble them, because just like many today who declare themselves good people, the Jewish religious leaders were trusting in their own righteousness (Luke 18:9).

They thought they were good, but not even one is good (Rom 3:10-11). It’s just that we’re saved by a very good God and have Jesus’ righteousness imputed on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21). If only they had listened to Jesus’ warning that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:21-23).

Conclusion
Jesus referred to Himself as the Living Water (John 4:10-15), and the Bread of Life (John 6:25-59), so when He said, “my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:55-56), it is not strange that “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66). Only later would this strange verse make sense; at Jesus establishing the New Covenant at the Passover. How interesting that those who reject Christ in this chapter are set against Christ, because whoever is not for Christ is against Him (Matt 12:30; Luke 11:23), and even the chapter and verse number (6:66) is symbolic of being anti-Christ. Jesus spoke some very hard words but only to those with the hardest of hearts; even this was in the hopes of softening them.

For Jesus, hard words were spoken to hard hearts because they can sometimes soften hearts, while soft words spoken to hard hearts (like the self-righteous, self-justifying) will only serve to further harden the heart. Either way, controversy followed Jesus wherever He went, so the fact that many of the Bible’s controversial verses were from Jesus Himself should not surprise us. His ways are certainly not our ways, and His thinking not like our thinking (Isaiah 55:8), but the first step in understanding His ways is by humbling ourselves. God will always oppose the proud, but only to the humble will He give His grace (James 4:6).

 

[beensetfree]

Did you know

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death…you are fortunate, more than three billion people in the world can’t.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you can read this you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all?

A great reminder of how blessed many of us are and how we are to be thankful to our gracious and loving God.

 

[beensetfree]

Worldly Friendship?
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

James 4:1-4 KJV

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As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

1 Peter 1:14-16 NIV

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For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2:16,17 NASB

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And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Romans 12:1,2 NLT

__________________

Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.”

Proverbs 27:23

Every wise merchant will occasionally hold a stock-taking, when he will cast up his accounts, examine what he has on hand, and ascertain decisively whether his trade is prosperous or declining. Every man who is wise in the kingdom of heaven, will cry, “Search me, O God, and try me”; and he will frequently set apart special seasons for self-examination, to discover whether things are right between God and his soul.

The God whom we worship is a great heart-searcher; and of old his servants knew him as “the Lord which searcheth the heart and trieth the reins of the children of men.” Let me stir you up in his name to make diligent search and solemn trial of your state, lest you come short of the promised rest. That which every wise man does, that which God himself does with us all, I exhort you to do with yourself this evening. Let the oldest saint look well to the fundamentals of his piety, for grey heads may cover black hearts: and let not the young professor despise the word of warning, for the greenness of youth may be joined to the rottenness of hypocrisy.

Every now and then a cedar falls into our midst. The enemy still continues to sow tares among the wheat. It is not my aim to introduce doubts and fears into your mind; nay, verily, but I shall hope the rather that the rough wind of self-examination may help to drive them away. It is not security, but carnal security, which we would kill; not confidence, but fleshly confidence, which we would overthrow; not peace, but false peace, which we would destroy.

By the precious blood of Christ, which was not shed to make you a hypocrite, but that sincere souls might show forth his praise, I beseech you, search and look, lest at the last it be said of you, “Mene, Mene, Tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”

 

[beensetfree]

Advent Symmetries


Why would God bring the Savior into the world through a female virgin? Anselm offers some answers (Cur Deus Homo, 323-4):
“is extremely appropriate that, just as the sin of mankind and the cause of our damnation originated from a woman, correspondingly the medicine of sin and the cause of salvation should be born of a woman.

Moreover, women might lose hope that they have a part in the destiny of the blessed ones, in view of the fact that such great evil proceeded from a woman: in order to prevent this, it is right that an equivalent great good should proceed from a woman, so as to rebuild their hope. Include this, too, in your picture: on the supposition that it was a virgin woman who has been the cause of all the evil besetting the human race, it is all the more appropriate that the woman who is to be the cause of all good should be a virgin.

Another thing to include in your picture is this. One may presume that the woman whom God created from a man without a woman was created from someone who was a virgin: on this supposition, it is extremely fitting that the man who is to be created from a woman without a man, should be brought forth by a virgin. For the moment, however, let these considerations suffice with regard to the pictures which may be painted on the subject of how the God-Man ought to be born of a virgin woman.”
One guiding theological principle here is aesthetic: Salvation should stand in symmetrical relation with creation, redemption an fitting inversion of the fall. Another is pastoral: God has so arranged redemptive history as to give assurance to women that Eve’s sin has not left them hopeless.

 

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Eternal Life!
But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Romans 8:10,11 NIV

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Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Isaiah 26:19-21 KJV

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But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:22,23 NASB

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For the Father loves the Son and tells him everything he is doing, and the Son will do far greater things than healing this man. You will be astonished at what he does. He will even raise from the dead anyone he wants to, just as the Father does.

John 5:20,21 NLT

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Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“Lo, I am with you always.”

Matthew 28:20

The Lord Jesus is in the midst of his church; he walketh among the golden candlesticks; his promise is, “Lo, I am with you always.” He is as surely with us now as he was with the disciples at the lake, when they saw coals of fire, and fish laid thereon and bread. Not carnally, but still in real truth, Jesus is with us. And a blessed truth it is, for where Jesus is, love becomes inflamed.

Of all the things in the world that can set the heart burning, there is nothing like the presence of Jesus! A glimpse of him so overcomes us, that we are ready to say, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.” Even the smell of the aloes, and the myrrh, and the cassia, which drop from his perfumed garments, causes the sick and the faint to grow strong. Let there be but a moment's leaning of the head upon that gracious bosom, and a reception of his divine love into our poor cold hearts, and we are cold no longer, but glow like seraphs, equal to every labour, and capable of every suffering.

If we know that Jesus is with us, every power will be developed, and every grace will be strengthened, and we shall cast ourselves into the Lord's service with heart, and soul, and strength; therefore is the presence of Christ to be desired above all things. His presence will be most realized by those who are most like him. If you desire to see Christ, you must grow in conformity to him. Bring yourself, by the power of the Spirit, into union with Christ's desires, and motives, and plans of action, and you are likely to be favoured with his company.

Remember his presence may be had. His promise is as true as ever. He delights to be with us. If he doth not come, it is because we hinder him by our indifference. He will reveal himself to our earnest prayers, and graciously suffer himself to be detained by our entreaties, and by our tears, for these are the golden chains which bind Jesus to his people.

 

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Why Its Easy To Misjudge People


It’s almost impossible to know what’s inside of a person, so why are we so quick to judge?
Forgiving Others
John 3:16 is a beautiful verse that speaks of the immeasurable gift that the Father gave of His Son for our forgiveness of sins. Even so, John 3:17 completes this thought since it says, “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,” so Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save the world. One of the greatest things about redemption is that we are forgiven by God. He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). The point is east and west never meet. He didn’t come to condemn but to save, even though many believe that’s the only reason Jesus came. He casts our sins into the oceans, which is a type of death, but we still love to go fishing for them, including those of others.

As far as God is concerned, our sins are forgotten, never to be dealt with again, but its human nature to try and resurrect the sins of others. The irony is that when we fail to forgive others, we are robbing ourselves of health, joy, and happiness. In what is called the Lord’s Prayer, we are told to ask for our trespasses to be forgiven just as we are to forgive others there trespasses. The word trespass is simply an old English word that basically relates to sin, so if Jesus came into the world to not condemn the world, then why do so many Christians (and non-believers) condemn others when they don’t know what’s inside the person. Only God can see what’s in a person’s heart, but humans, even Christians, tend to judge a book by its cover. We are quick to ask for forgiveness but no always so quick to forgive others. There is something decidedly wrong about this picture.

Forgiving Self
There are times when we even get made at ourselves and cannot forgive ourselves for own mistakes. We are told to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves, but we sometimes don’t love ourselves, and so we sometimes don’t forgive ourselves, even though God has. We might be harder on ourselves than anyone else, but if we believe God, we have been cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), and given a new standing before God. The believer has Jesus’ very own righteousness (2 Cor 5:21), so why do we have such trouble forgiving ourselves? I think it’s a lack of belief. In other words, since God promises to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness, and there is no more condemnation (Rom 8:1), and we are now at peace with God (Rom 8:1), why are we sometimes not at peace with ourselves?

It could be others who keep bringing up the past, but they have no reason to since God has taken our sins away. Jesus told the woman caught in adultery that she was not condemned, but told to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11), but I wonder how many of the Jewish religious leaders still saw that woman later on and still labeled her an adulterer? I wonder how many of us would do the same thing. And what of the man caught in the act of adultery? Why wasn’t he brought to Jesus? It’s the old double standard, but since Jesus forgave her, and it appears that she forgave herself, her sin should never be brought up again. What God has cleansed, no one has the right to accuse. The Apostle Paul asks, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom 8:34).

Hypocrites
Many people don’t want to go to church because they say it’s full of hypocrites. I can tell them that there’s always room for one more, and if you find a perfect church, don’t join it…you’ll run it…just like I would, so there is no such thing as a perfect church, just as there are no perfect people. Clearly, Christians are far from perfect, but they are forgiven, so why do we quickly judge others and often harbor grudges for things they’ve done? People may not want to be around those who are judging others, and why would they? If they know you’ll judge them, even without having all the facts, why would they ever want to associate with you or with me?

If you choose to forgive others and they choose to not forgive you, you at least have met your obligation. You can’t make someone forgive you, but you can accept God’s forgiveness and move on. Only you can control your decision to forgive yourself and others, but no one has any right to condemn. Not forgiving is an issue of pride and God is known to resist the proud but to give grace to the humble (James 4:6). You cannot be humble and be unforgiving at the same time.

A Book’s Cover
Two members of another church were sitting in a beauty parlor they saw the new pastor of the church down the street. They noticed his walk was unsteadily when he into the first floor of a building that was housing a bar. When he came out, he was apparently in no better shape than when he left as he wobbled back to his car and drove off. The two church members could not believe that the new pastor of the church was drunk.

Naturally, they had to tell some of the members of that church what they had seen, but it was only then that they find out that the new pastor had cerebral palsy and had difficulty walking. And when it looked like he was going into the bar, he had actually been visiting a prospective member who lived in an apartment upstairs, above the bar. What a great reminder that only God knows the heart (1 Sam 16:7). We can’t judge a book without reading it any more than we can judge someone we don’t know. We have no idea what’s in their heart and so we’re in no position to judge.

Conclusion
I have been misjudged a few times and it’s not fun, but I’ve done the same thing to others. One person assumed something about me from the way things looked, but they could not have been more wrong about me. When we judge people, we almost always get it wrong. Only God knows what’s inside their heart, and God is the One Who is in a position to judge them. I am not qualified. He is. I can tell people what the Bible says about certain things and that some things are clearly sin, but even then, I’m telling them what God’s Word says and it is really God’s Word that is judging them, not me.

 

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Obedience - Key to Blessing
If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment

Job 36:11 NIV

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And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself. But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law--the law that sets you free--and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

James 1:22

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For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Romans 2:13 KJV

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O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:3-6 NASB

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And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."

Matthew 12:49,50 RSV

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Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

Luke 3:4

The voice crying in the wilderness demanded a way for the Lord, a way prepared, and a way prepared in the wilderness. I would be attentive to the Master's proclamation, and give him a road into my heart, cast up by gracious operations, through the desert of my nature. The four directions in the text must have my serious attention.

Every valley must be exalted. Low and grovelling thoughts of God must be given up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of grace must be raised.

Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and boastful self-righteousness, must be levelled, to make a highway for the King of kings. Divine fellowship is never vouchsafed to haughty, highminded sinners. The Lord hath respect unto the lowly, and visits the contrite in heart, but the lofty are an abomination unto him. My soul, beseech the Holy Spirit to set thee right in this respect.

The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that thou be in all things honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.

The rough places shall be made smooth. Stumbling-blocks of sin must be removed, and thorns and briers of rebellion must be uprooted. So great a visitor must not find miry ways and stony places when he comes to honour his favoured ones with his company. Oh that this evening the Lord may find in my heart a highway made ready by his grace, that he may make a triumphal progress through the utmost bounds of my soul, from the beginning of this year even to the end of it.