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Gal 1:10 Now do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the one I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Whether we please people or not when sharing the Bible depends on whether or not we speak the truth in an understandable way. If we are excited about something, we tend to make others interested or at least curious about why we are excited. If I share that Jesus came from heaven to save us from satan's power and to give us eternal life, I speak the truth and what good news that is. If we want to tickle ears and be popular telling people what they want to hear, then we may be speaking another truth, another gospel, which is not the truth. If we love God and humans too, we need to be honest and transparent. If by doing this we make friends and perhaps share a cup of coffee, then that is a good thing; we all want to be liked. If people are forgiven their sins, then we please God too.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Jer 18:7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,
Jer 18:8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.
There is no better illustration of these words than the people of Nineveh who repented after Jonah spoke of their destruction.
Jon 3:4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
Jon 3:5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
One man, Jonah the reluctant prophet, when he finally obeyed God, brought a nation to their knees and they showed repentance; sackcloth and ashes even covering their animals with sackcloth showing their humbling before God and God spared them. Oh that our nation would all seek God in true humility.
The LORD spoke to Solomon at the height of his power, at the completion of the Temple in Jerusalem.What God builds, he can take down. May we find favor with God.
2Ch 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Jonah hated the cruel people of Nineveh, nevertheless he obeyed God. Obeying God brought about a miracle. We are not to run from God, but to be still, listen and obey him. He can use us to do the impossible. With God all things are possible.
The Children of Israel prospered in Egypt until a new king saw them as a threat. Their population had greatly increased and they had not interbred with the Egyptians. The Hebrew midwives were ordered to kill all male babies of the Hebrews. By killing the male children a generation would be weakened. The devil was involved because he did not know when the Messiah would be born and as the days of Herod all male babies were a threat.
Exo 1:16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
Exo 1:17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
Exo 1:18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
Exo 1:19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
Exo 1:20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
Two things I see right off; they told a lie to save lives and they obeyed God over the commands of government authority. If evil replaces that which is good, we obey God.
When women's "rights" mean they can kill their babies, then God says no. When government is promoting the killing of infants in and out of the womb, we need to obey God and not man. If a nation promotes their version of what is right and wrong, we must fear and obey God. Now is the time to study the Bible and put it in your heart, for a time is coming that the people of God will be called the enemy and their Bibles will be called evil.
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
May we stay in the light of God's word and stand up for what he says is good and right. Our nation is in a spiritual battle that is being fought in our cities and streets where violence and hate are seen as the right thing and our "one nation under God" motto is seen as the enemy. We have the good news, let it be heard and keep the faith. May we remain a blessed nation.
There is an amazing event that occurred just after Jesus died on the cross. It is only mentioned in the gospel of Matthew.
Mat 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
A lot of graves in those days were caves in a mountain with cork shaped stones sealing them. The shaking of the earth may have opened the graves, or perhaps they were opened by an angel as was the case when Jesus' tomb stone was rolled away, after three days. What I see in this resurrection is that Jesus did not need his flesh and blood body to raise the dead. He is God the Son, a Spirit with all power over life and death.
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Jesus had already said to Martha whose brother Lazarus had died, that he is the resurrection and the life.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
If you can only see Jesus as a human, you cannot see that he is the Son of God with power to raise the dead. Those risen were after the resurrection of Jesus, he raised them by his eternal power. Believe in Jesus as the eternal son of God who came to earth in a human to bleed and die as payment for our sins. Believe this and ask him to save you. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.
A final thought. Those risen by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ may have been some of the Old Testament believers. Both Jacob and Joseph wanted their bones brought back to Israel. Maybe they were some of the resurrected first fruits? What is so amazing is that Jesus has power to bring life after death. The Bible also says that the Father and the Holy Spirit have power to raise the dead.The soul and spirit live forever. There is no use for corruptible bodies of dust that return to dust. The life is in the spirit and soul. God will give us new bodies in his time.
Our rest home ministry piano playing friend, Chuck Thomas died yesterday. I miss him but know that he lives with Jesus. We shall be together in the sweet by and bye with instruments and singing. All glory to God forever.
James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Afflictions get our attention and can be used by God to correct us or to have a closer walk with him. The world has been afflicted with the China Virus. How we use this time is important. Let us draw closer to God in prayer and the reading of the Bible. Truth is, the news can make you depressed. Instead of dwelling on our problems we could sing the psalms and other spiritual songs. Instead of being depressed as the world we are blessed in the Lord. Let's not forget others in our blessings.
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Put on your happy face mask and rejoice in the Lord.
The apostle Paul saw that false apostles had come into the Church at Corinth and were puffing themselves up and pretending to have authority, preaching a false gospel. We have false leaders today preaching a prosperity message and fleecing the flock.
2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
False ones will get the surprise rejection of God at the judgement. All those big name preachers who are wanting power over the people to control them instead of preparing them to do the good works they are gifted to do. Evil workers will be judged.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
There will always be bad apples in the church, in the police, in the civil rights leaders, in the teachers. in business and in government. It is our responsibility to beware, to warn others and if possible to remove them by voting or other legal ways. Martin Luther King said we should not be judged by our color, but by our character. In the end the false ones must face the Lord.
The world needs truth, mercy and hope. We hear "Black lives matter", but in truth all lives matter to God and without him nothing matters. People need Jesus and the truth of God. Let us look at some hidden truths starting in the old testament.
Zec 11:12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Zec 11:13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
The old testament spoke prophecies that were revealed in the new testament.
Mat 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Mat 27:4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
Mat 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
Mat 27:6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
Mat 27:7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
Mat 27:8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.
The price paid for the life of Jesus was thirty pieces of silver, the lowest price paid for a slave. The Jewish leaders were careful to keep the law, while at the same time violating the spirit of the law. They were guilty of conspiring to kill Jesus, they used Judas to get to him. They had no mercy for a repentant Judas. The silver was unclean because it was blood money. The payers of the blood money were truly the unclean things in the house of the LORD.
Jesus at an earlier time warned the Jewish leaders saying:
Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
It seems to me that the punishment of the chief priests will be greater than for Judas. Judas tried to repent and they had no mercy for him. The priests had a higher position and were to be the spokesmen for the word of God. They missed the mark. But before blaming these key players, it was our sins that brought Jesus to earth, to willingly die to pay the price for them. It was all our sins that he came to die for. Knowing this and receiving him we are given the hope of eternal life with the Lord and the redeemed and that is the truth.
