Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

2018 Lent day Fifteen – 3/2 Betrayal

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two for catch up.
Lent Week Three – next week.

We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Fifteen
Judas exposed

John 13:21-28 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Judas’s Betrayal Predicted
21 When Jesus had said this, He was troubled in His spirit and testified, “I assure you: One of you will betray Me!”

22 The disciples started looking at one another—uncertain which one He was speaking about. 23 One of His disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining close beside Jesus.[a] 24 Simon Peter motioned to him to find out who it was He was talking about. 25 So he leaned back against Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” When He had dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son.[b] 27 After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Therefore Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.”

28 None of those reclining at the table knew why He told him this.

Matthew 26:20-25 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
20 When evening came, He was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, He said, “I assure you: One of you will betray Me.”

22 Deeply distressed, each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?”

23 He replied, “The one who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl—he will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

25 Then Judas, His betrayer, replied, “Surely not I, Rabbi?”

“You have said it,” He told him.

Mark 14:17-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Betrayal at the Passover
17 When evening came, He arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “I assure you: One of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me!”

19 They began to be distressed and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?”

20 He said to them, “It is one of the Twelve—the one who is dipping bread with Me in the bowl.

Crosswalk provides a nice discussion on the deeper meaning of the thirty coins.

I shared in Lent day Nine that I felt that Judas may not have realized that the enemy had entered him.

There is a progression.

he gets upset about the woman using the anointing oil, rather than selling it. Matthew 26
John says it’s because he’s a thief and concerned about money. John 12
He goes to the leaders – asks how much will you give me? Matthew 26
HE CONTINUES TO WALK WITH JESUS! is he decieved?
HE PARTICIPATES IN THE LORD’S SUPPER – THE BREAD AND THE CUP – THE FOOT WASHING. does he know?
Jesus confronts him, politely, discretely, but Judas KNOWS that Jesus KNOWS! the above Scriptures
and he betrays Jesus with kiss.
In his distress and dispair Judas hangs himself – Matthew 27:3-10

Matthew 27:3-10 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Judas Hangs Himself
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. 4 “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said.

“What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!”

5 So he threw the silver into the sanctuary and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.

6 The chief priests took the silver and said, “It’s not lawful to put it into the temple treasury,[a] since it is blood money.”[b] 7 So they conferred together and bought the potter’s field with it as a burial place for foreigners. 8 Therefore that field has been called “Blood Field” to this day. 9 Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

They took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of Him whose price was set by the Israelites, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.[c]

Tomorrow, we’re looking at Peter. What is the difference between Judas and Peter? Why did Judas commit suicide and Peter did not?

I believe it is the heart issue.
We’ve talked a lot about how works are the evidence of our salvation. The outward sign of our inner work is how the Episcopalians describe sacraments. Neither the sacraments, nor the disciplines of faith, nor even the fruits gain us salvation, but they are evidences of our salvation. Jesus said that we can know them by their fruit.

- Judas was willing to betray this man – but Peter was not willing to have him wash his feet!
- Judas was known to be a thief – but Peter was willing to step out on water, and was declaring his dying loyalty!
- Judas did not understand the concept of forgiveness – Peter had been taught over and over, and was alive to experience Christ’s forgiveness.

Denying Christ comes with heavy penalty –

1 John 2:20-23 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.[a] 21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son can have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.

There’s not much difference between denying and betraying…except that Peter knew of the forgiveness of God.

Esau despised his birthright – Genesis 25, and when he lost his inheritance, he cried out for forgiveness. Genesis 27:38.
He rejected God’s grace upon his life.

Hebrews 12:14-17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Warning against Rejecting God’s Grace
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord. 15 Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many. 16 And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for one meal. 17 For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected because he didn’t find any opportunity for repentance, though he sought it with tears.

We are given warnings that time could run out!

Hebrews 6:4-8 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit,
5 tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age,
6 and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt.
7 For ground that has drunk the rain that has often fallen on it and that produces vegetation useful to those it is cultivated for receives a blessing from God.
8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and will be burned at the end.

Psalms 2:12 Holman Christian Standard Bible
Pay homage to the Son or He will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for His anger may ignite at any moment. All those who take refuge in Him are happy.

Isaiah 55:6-7 King James Version (KJV)
6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Psalm 55 is a prayer in response to betrayal by a friend.

As Jesus said over and over, one who was chosen became a devil.
For me, this answers the question of free will.
Judas was chosen.
He chose to betray Christ.
He chose to take his own life, rather than seek forgiveness as far as we know.

Peter was chosen.
He chose to deny Christ.
He chose to re-evaluate his life, and Jesus called him to feed His sheep.

You and I are chosen.
I choose to follow Jesus.
What will you choose?

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Prayer and Worship

You Love me Still – Sidewalk Prophets
Just AS I am – Mercy Me
Your Grace Finds me – Matt Redmon

I have a very special place in my heart for those that are struggling with suicide.

~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

2018 Lent Day Fourteen – 3/1 – Jesus washes feet

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two for catch up.
Lent Week Three – this week.

We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Fourteen
Jesus washes the disciples feet.

Music
The Servant Song – Maranatha Music Band
Take My Life – Chris Tomlin

Scripture

John 13:2-17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
2 Now by the time of supper, the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Him. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. 4 So He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. 5 Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t understand now, but afterward you will know.”
8 “You will never wash my feet—ever!” Peter said.
Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew who would betray Him. This is why He said, “You are not all clean.”

The Meaning of Footwashing
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His robe, He reclined[a] again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.
16 “I assure you: A slave is not greater than his master,[b] and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Devotion

“Servant”
I looked up the definition of servant from Vines via Blue Letter Bible, and it means Bond slave. It means servant. It means everything that you would think that slave would mean. If you’ve ever watched Downton Abbey, you’ve actually seen the issue between Masters and servants. They do not interact. The Masters do not serve the servants. But our Master chose to serve his servants.

The job for washing someone’s feet, the most disgusting job other than possibly one other area of the body, was for the low man/woman on the totem pole. The upper servants didn’t do this. This was the lowest of the low servants. Add to that, the knowledge of what was on the ground back when it was Jesus’s day(no paved sidewalks with gutters that all of the gross stuff could wash down into).
For your information:
I’ve even heard some people say that they didn’t really even go out behind the house to go to the bathroom mad. When they had to go to the bathroom, they just went. Apparently, not true! I did some research on Ancient biblical practices of personal hygiene.
Toilets in Biblical times – NT and Rome
Toilets in Biblical Times – Old Testament with levitical rituals.
Suffice it to say, it wasn’t just dirt on the ground that these people were walking in their sandals.

I happen to live in Florida. Nine months out of the year, if not more, we wear sandals. That’s just because restaurants and stores require shoes on our feet in order to enter! I can wash everything on my body and walk around outside and come in and take off my sandals and I have lines from the dirt that has gotten on my feet, even though my feet have been above the so-called dirt because of my sandals. All sandals do is protect the bottoms of your feet from rocks and such. In Jesus’ day, they all wore sandals.

Jesus was listening to the guys as they were trying to figure out who was the greatest. He was going to teach that the kingdom of God is based on a servant heart. We have the discourse between Jesus and Peter as Jesus sets up to wash Peters feet. Peter is not going to have anything to do with this man that he believes is the son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, washing his feet. He’s not going to have anything to do with someone who deserves so much glory and worship and honor bowing down before him and doing the work of the most base servant.

In Wycliffe’s Bible Commentary, he supposes that

The materials for washing the feet were present(Lk 22:10) but there was no servant (Jesus had requested privacy). One of the disciples might have volunteered, but all were too proud. At this time they were disputing as to which of them should be regarded as the greatest (Lk 22:24)

Maybe Peter was embarrassed – shamed that HE had not volunteered to do the washing before the meal!

Jesus looks at him and says “if you won’t let me wash your feet you have nothing to do with me.”
So then Peter, good old Peter, says “then wash me all of me from the the head to my feet!”

Jesus says “no, you are clean but not your feet.”
So Peter finally acquiesces.

What is the POINT? Why did John make sure this story was IN the gospels?
There are two points to this story that I am interested in today.
1. the Servant heart.
The God of the universe obviously had a servant heart to decide to leave His glory and be born a baby, needing to have His diapers changed and to be fed and being born where He had to be laid down in a Manger! He chose to participate in the filthiness that is man! Even though He was without sin and He was not filthy, He chose to enter the world of man. That is the epitome of the master choosing to come as a servant.

2. Why did Jesus insist on only washing Peters feet and not his whole self? I believe that this has something to do with being washed clean at salvation but having our feet get dirty by walking in this world. I believe this shows us that we’re only saved once, but we need to have our feet washed often and by Jesus so that we are clean to come before the throne.

I searched Blue Letter Bible on the word servant. In the Old Testament

Abraham is called a servant of God
Moses is called a servant of God
David is called a servant of God
Job is called, BY GOD, a servant of God
the prophets called themselves Servants of God,
those who were the followers of God identified as servants to their master God.

Many many verses about being a servant can be found in Psalms and proverbs. Psalm 119 specifically talks a lot about being a servant to God’s law.

What does this have to do with God being our servant? Jesus was trying to point out and to exemplify the fact that in the kingdom of God the first shall be last, the last shall be first. (Matthew 20:16) Those that serve have higher regard to God than those who are served. When you think of the fact that original sin was lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16 with Genesis 3:6) which actually is three facets to selfishness or plain and simple pride, you recognize that humility exemplifies God. It is one of the character qualities that God expects out of someone who calls himself by his name. If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and seek my face…(2 Chronicles 7:14) . God embodies humility, and expects it of us. When you recognize this, it’s not surprising that Jesus would humble himself to serve. It was less painful than the cross – the ultimate humble sacrifice.

There’s also the concept that and so many other things that in our fallen, worldly, finite minds seems upside down and backwards. Then again it’s because of our fallen, worldly, finite, minds that things ARE upside down and backwards. His ways are higher than our ways and we do not see things the way he sees things unless he opens our eyes.

Isaiah 55:8-9 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.

This is the last chance Jesus has to teach his disciples. I’m going to be discussing what things did Jesus decide to teach in the upper room. By washing His disciples feet He wanted to impress upon them that He had come to serve. He wanted to impress upon them that He was sending them forth to serve.

Many of the Jews thought that when the Messiah came he was going to come riding on a stallion with an army to set Jerusalem free and deliver them into this great Kingdom reigning and ruling over all the world, or at least just delivering them from Rome. That was not what Christ’s first coming was about. His first coming was to be an offering. He knew he was coming to be the lamb that would be slain on behalf of an ungrateful world.
He knew that his death on the cross would be a complete humiliation in the public arena.

Greater love has no man but that he would lay down his life for another. John 15:13
When someone throws themselves on a grenade or steps in front of the vehicle while pushing someone out of the way, or any sort of thing along these lines, they are considered Heroes. The fact that they put their life on the line for someone else, whether they knew them or not, is considered the ultimate gift. The same as said for any person in the military that gave their life on behalf of the United States, that they had given The Ultimate Gift. The military, the police, the fireman and such are all called public servants. They do put their lives on the line for others.

How much more the perfect Son of God, taking on our penalty for our sin by dying, how much more of a servant’s heart is this? Then He asks of us to be servant leaders. He asks us not lead by bullying or manipulation or Bible beating, but to lead by serving. Quite a few Parables talk about serving another. This whole concept of serving held great importance to Jesus Christ. He was trying to give his disciples a very tangible memory that would hopefully not fade away.

Why the feet and not the whole body?

I think this is a statement of salvation. Because once one chooses to follow Christ, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ believes that he is the Son of God that he died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave (which they didn’t know yet), that person is saved.

Romans 6:23 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These disciples had declared Jesus was there Lord, they had given up their old lives to walk with Jesus. They did have to change their ways, because they were walking with Jesus! And Jesus’s life was perfect! They would have wanted to impress Jesus and would try to be the best people they could be to please Jesus. Their works would not gain the them salvation but their works would be the evidence of their salvation.

Did they still sin? Of course they did.
We have multiple evidences of Peter spouting off at the mouth and Jesus reprimanding him. We can be sure not one disciple was perfect because not one disciple was raptured! The Apostle John wrote in 1 John that we aren’t supposed to sin but if you sin… Then we we have an advocate with the father… Jesus Christ intercedes for us and cleanses us from sin. That’s 1st John 1:9-2:2.

John doesn’t say that okay you messed up you need to get saved again. John just said you needed to confess your sins. James talks about if any of you is sick let him call for the Elders of the church. If he’s committed sin Let Him confess, and then they will be healed. James 5:14-16 Sin can have an effect on our physical health! We know sins have an effect on our fellowship with God, and have ever since Adam and Eve left the garden. So it’s not that we don’t get dirty, just that we don’t need to be saved again.

Now here we could go off on the once saved always saved Doctrine and while I believe that there’s some aspect to that I believe that there is an abuse of that wear one person wants told me that they got saved but because they started smoking again they were unsaved and need to get saved again. That’s two extremes. This would be a perfect place to put some sort of a study on the security of the believer but that really gets into some deep theology and I think there are plenty of places online which would answer those theological questions.

Here’s two links to Calvin’s explanations:
Perseverance of the Saints:

And

P – Preservation of the Saints
~ Thanks to my husband Jim for finding these references!

We’ve been washed by the water of the word and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ therefore we are saved.
But we walk in the world which is filthy.
We have a fallen nature that we constantly fight.
We sin and those who say they do not sin are liars which is a sin. Just ask 1st John 1.
We need to wash our feet, we need to be washed from the effects of the world upon us as we walk around with in it.
We don’t need to be saved again, we don’t need to be baptized again, we just need to be washed so that we could come to the table and fellowship with our father.

The one thing I am sure of is eternity. Every human being has eternal life. And every human being gets to choose where they will spend their eternal life. With God or without God, and as I talked about the other day the place where the rich man was when he was asking Abraham to send Lazarus to talk to his family, didn’t sound like such a nice place.

Prayer and Worship
Make Me a Servant – Maranatha Music
Here’s My Heart Lord – Casting Crowns
If We are the Body – Casting Crowns
I will serve the Lord– Carmen

To Be a servant of God – you must first be a child of God!
Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Whiter than Snow – Lenny LeBlanc
Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow – Best Loved Hymns

Blue Letter Bible has Elizabeth Elliott’s talks on Servanthood.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

2018 LENT Day Twelve – 2/27 New Covenant

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two for catch up.
Lent Week Three – this week.

We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Twelve
New Covenant

Music and Worship
God Sent His son – Divine Hymns

Scripture

Luke 22:14-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The First Lord’s Supper
14 When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

19 And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

20 In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood; it is shed for you.

Matthew 26:26-30 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The First Lord’s Supper
26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is My body.” 27 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 But I tell you, from this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in My Father’s kingdom with you.” 30 After singing psalms, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:22-26 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

What is the New Covenant?

We were studying in Romans 2 & 3 and in one version it talks about “prior to the law there was no sin.” I was asked, how did Adam and Eve know of sin? or Abraham? etc.? I started by discussing the concept of Adam and Eve having innocence vs holiness. Did Adam and Eve know it was sin to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil? Yes! God said “don’t do this and if you do this you will die” (Genesis 2,3). They had given given a command and they were told the consequence and they made the choice.

Did Cain know it was wrong to kill his brother Abel? Well, God had been talking to him about anger(Genesis 4) and that because he was angry(maybe hiding), sin was sitting at his doorstep and was trying to cause him problems. Still, he killed his brother! Why? Jealousy! He did not say when God judged him that God had no right to judge him for what he did. He said that the Judgment was too grievous.

In both of these cases, something died. Adam and Eve sinned and an animal died on their behalf but they gave up their fellowship with God. Cain killed his brother. His brother’s blood wouldn’t be a sacrifice, but blood was shed becauise of sin! He was sent away and removed from fellowship from his family.

King David sinned and cried out for forgiveness and I’m sure gave plenty of sacrifices. His sin, followed by death of his son, caused him heartache. More than anything, King David’s cry was “cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.” Psalm 51

Basically, we can go through any one who sinned and had to pay the price and suffer the consequence and realized that they wanted to get back what they lost. Sin brings death and division.

The Adamic Covenant was the animal that was slain for Adam and Eve. They were kicked out of the Garden.
The Noahic Covenant was the clean animals that were slain (all the people that had been sinning was the death penalty, and separation). ONLY NOAH was found righteous and his family were saved on his behalf.
The Abrahamic Covenant was around the offering of Isaac and God giving a ram in his stead. Leave idolatry! even family. Go where you are sent!
The Mosaic Covenant was the Ten Commandments and of course the sacrifices(Passover lamb) and such at The Exodus. This instituted Israel being separate and unique from the World.

These are all animals that were sacrificed to pay the price for man’s sin.
God does not desire the blood of bulls and goats but of a contrite heart.

Back to David’s psalm asking forgiveness:

Psalm 51:16-17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;
You are not pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.
God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.

And Samuel explains the preference of God:

1 Sam 15:22 Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Samuel said: Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

It was not God’s original intention for anything to die. His word in Genesis 2 was that when man sinned, death would enter the garden. I believe, though, that God, in His perfect wisdom, knew that this creation that He had created was going to turn on Him. Why? Because he had created the angels with perfect glorified bodies, that lived in his perfect presence and they fell and there is no sacrifice for them.

God knew that his creation had/has an enemy, because He gave His creation, including the angels, the right to say “no.” God knew that His enemy, man’s enemy, would attack man at his basic levels – lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of Life. (1 John 2:16 with Genesis 3). God also knew, that in the fullness of time, He would send His son Jesus, to be the final lamb, the perfect lamb, to be slain and make good the price of his Justice. The old Covenant was based on the blood of lambs, goats, Rams, Bulls, animals, Etc. The New Covenant is based on the blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God.

Jeremiah prophesied of another covenant!

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The New Covenant
31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke even though I had married them”—the Lord’s declaration.
33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.”

The Writer of Hebrews explains the difference in the OLD and NEW Testaments in Hebrews 9:13 – 10:18

The short version:

Hebrews 9:13-15 King James Version (KJV)
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

We are PARTICIPANTS in this NEW COVENANT! Just like those that had to purchase the sacrificial animal and slay it in the OLD covenant – we have a cost to count, and some dying to do.

An excerpt from 2018 Lent day Eleven is this:

So when we participate in communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, what actually happens?

The definition that I started this with says the sharing of intimate emotional and spiritual things, For me, this really says what this is all about! As two or more gathered Jesus is in our midst. (Matthew 18:20)
When we gather together, we acknowledge that we are all part of the body of Christ and that is a sharing of sorts. (1 Corinthians 12)

In another way, when we participate in this celebration, we are saying that we are willing to take up our cross, to crucify our flesh physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually – whatever is needed to grow into the fullness of Christ. We are saying that we believe that the blood of Jesus Christ was perfect to cleanse us and we’re making sure that our accounts with God are kept short. In a way, we are choosing to participate in his suffering symbolically. There are many on this planet that don’t have the choice whether or not they suffer with Christ or participate in his sufferings because they are under horrendous persecution. They can have their heads cut off, they can be burned at the stake, they can have acid thrown on them, and/or they can be raped, pillaged, whatever without any protection.

In the United States of America, we are kind of handicapped in that we have a soft cushioned, velvet covered cross that’s only holding our arms up with suspenders that don’t really hurt. They’re a little uncomfortable, maybe. Our feet and hands? Well, actually, we can get down off our cross anytime we want to! Because we have to choose! We have a choice.

A very scary verse for me is “too much to whom much is given much will be required.” (Luke 12:48) Those who have nothing don’t have any difficulty giving up their nothing for Christ! Yes, they do have to make choices. I’m not belittling their choice, but if you have no food you don’t have to give up food for Christ because you don’t have to give up what you don’t have! If you have access to fast food restaurants everywhere and you have five or ten dollars in your pocket anytime and you can go and get whatever burger, fries and chocolate shake you want anytime, anywhere and God asks you to give that up, sometimes we take that personally! “You want my burger and fries God?”
And God says
“no, I want your heart.”

The New Covenant was paid for by the BLOOD of JESUS Christ…and His broken Body. HIS DEATH!!! our responsibility is gratitude. We choose to respond…
We can be like Judas
or we can choose to follow Jesus – in our offering to HIM in Thanks!
For other writings of mine on Choose and Choice, please go click in the word cloud to the right of this article!

Every year, I keep hearing that we should have Christmas everyday! “People should celebrate Christmas all year long!” Here’s my concern. While he had to be born fulfilling all of the prophecies, if he had not gone to the cross, none of the other would have mattered.

THEREFORE – Let’s celebrate Resurrection Day every day! Give thanks every day for what Christ did for us on Calvary!

Prayer and Worship

We Remember You – Maranatha Praise Band

He Paid a Debt – Church of Christ

This song was intrumental in my salvation walk – and I do not have the copyrighted youtube version, but, here’s this:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

2018 Lent Day Eleven – 2/26 – Remember

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two for catch up.
Lent Week Three – this week.

We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Eleven
COMMUNION – The Lord’s Supper – Eucharist
the bread and the cup will be day thirteen

Music
The Table of Grace – Phillips, Craig and Dean
I am the Bread of Life by Collin Raye

Scripture

Luke 22:14-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The First Lord’s Supper
14 When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

19 And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

20 In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood; it is shed for you.

Matthew 26:26-30 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The First Lord’s Supper
26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is My body.” 27 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 But I tell you, from this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in My Father’s kingdom with you.” 30 After singing psalms, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:22-26 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Devotion

The words about the bread and the cup do not seem to be the FIRST thing that occurred after they arrived at the Upper Room, and yet, to me, for me, the bread and the cup ARE the major players, the crucial items upon which to focus first.

There is apparently disagreement amongst Christian denominations and theologians whether this was THE seder meal of Passover, or just some meal as Passover was about to start. It’s amazing what you can find out on Wikipedia! My position is that Jesus said:

Luke 22:15 Then He said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

Therefore, I’m going to ‘hang’ with Jesus on this one!

I try not to claim something is mine unless it is.
In that vein, I want to provide two websites that provide great explanation of what Communion , Lord’s Supper, Eucharist means to the Christian. They have done a much better job than I could, and I think you will be blessed by them.

NewSpring has a very nice explanation.

Where Did Communion Come From?
Jesus started the tradition of communion. He instructed His followers to use bread and wine to remember the sacrifice He was going to make when He died for our sins on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

Jesus called Himself “the bread of life,” which means that we’re nourished by Him, we survive because of Him, and He satisfies us when everything else leaves us empty (John 6:48-51). There’s a connection between our nearness to Jesus, believing in Him, and being fulfilled by Him (John 6:35).

The early Church celebrated Jesus by taking communion, sometimes every day (Acts 2:42-46). They saw that every time they gathered around a table to eat and drink, it was a chance to recognize Jesus and thank God for all He’s done.

All About Jesus Christ includes a response.

The Apostle Paul gives us the order for the practice in

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 gave thanks, broke it, and said,[a] “This is My body, which is[b] for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

25 In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

You may wonder how Paul got to carry this information…if you remember, part of his training was having supernatural training from Jesus after his conversion. It’s assumed that he received this revelation then, and, since all of the disciples that attended the Last Supper were still alive, and did not dispute his revelation, we can take it as, well, gospel.

What does COMMUNION mean?

Oxford D-Xictionary Definition of Communion
— the word:
mass noun – The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level.
Shared participation in a mental or spiritual experience.
– the celebration:
The service of Christian worship at which bread and wine are consecrated and shared.
The consecrated bread and wine administered and received at Communion.

And, the word Eucharist

Eucharist
The Christian service, ceremony, or sacrament commemorating the Last Supper, in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed.

My focus goes to that definition of the word COMMUNION -the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level.

Jesus had already talked to the disciples – and in the next few days we will talk about some of those talks and actions. As I said above, My highest focus on the activities in the Upper Room are about the cup and the bread.

Two reasons that I consider this very act important come from His words in the above passages::

“Do this in remembrance of Me.”

and

For this is My blood that establishes the covenant;[a] it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.

First, He commanded us to do this! Many Christians have thrown out all of the OT festivals.

He commands us to do what? Do this in remembrance of me.

All of the festivals in the Old Testament talk about remembering what God has done for us. Passover is for remembering how God, through Moses and the ten plagues and the blood over the door posts, delivered the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt. The Passover story also remembers crossing the Red Sea and how bitter their life was at and the mortar of there slavery bondage and over and over and over just remembering on an annual basis what God did for Israel.

Here are two offerings to look at Passover!

Jew’s Belong
Judaism 101

There are a few other OT holy days:

First Fruits – Spring Barley Harvest – part of the Passover timing….this is waving the sheave of wheat – thanksgiving
Feast of Weeks – Shavuot or Pentecost – Remembering the giving of the Law
Feast of Trumpets – Rosh Hashanah – Beginning of the Civil New Year – precedes Yom Kippur
Day of Atonemnent – Yom Kippur – atonement for sin – remembering when the high priest made sacrifice for the whole nation
Feast of Boothes – Sukkot – remebering the 40 years in the wilderness
Simchat Torah – remember the reading of the torah
Hanukkah – remember the purification of the Temple – and the Maccabees victory
Purim – remember the preservation of the Jews – lines up with the book of Esther.

note – I gathered these from a resource Feasts and Holidays of the Bible by Rose Publishing. ISBN – 1-890947-58-X

God seems to want us to remember what he has done in our lives, and HE set up holy days to constantly remind the Jews of this. Jesus, in the midst of the Holy day that celebrates deliverance from Egypt(the foreshadowing of the Christ Messiah) says to REMEMBER what HE is about to do!

So when we participate in communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, what actually happens?

The definition that I started this with says the sharing of intimate emotional and spiritual things, For me, this really says what this is all about! As two or more gathered Jesus is in our midst. (Matthew 18:20)
When we gather together, we acknowledge that we are all part of the body of Christ and that is a sharing of sorts. (1 Corinthians 12)

In another way, when we participate in this celebration, we are saying that we are willing to take up our cross, to crucify our flesh physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually – whatever is needed to grow into the fullness of Christ. We are saying that we believe that the blood of Jesus Christ was perfect to cleanse us and we’re making sure that our accounts with God are kept short. In a way, we are choosing to participate in his suffering symbolically. There are many on this planet that don’t have the choice whether or not they suffer with Christ or participate in his sufferings because they are under horrendous persecution. They can have their heads cut off, they can be burned at the stake, they can have acid thrown on them, and/or they can be raped, pillaged, whatever without any protection.

In the United States of America, we are kind of handicapped in that we have a soft cushioned, velvet covered cross that’s only holding our arms up with suspenders that don’t really hurt. They’re a little uncomfortable, maybe. Our feet and hands? Well, actually, we can get down off our cross anytime we want to! Because we have to choose! We have a choice.

A very scary verse for me is “too much to whom much is given much will be required.” (Luke 12:48) Those who have nothing don’t have any difficulty giving up their nothing for Christ! Yes, they do have to make choices. I’m not belittling their choice, but if you have no food you don’t have to give up food for Christ because you don’t have to give up what you don’t have! If you have access to fast food restaurants everywhere and you have five or ten dollars in your pocket anytime and you can go and get whatever burger, fries and chocolate shake you want anytime, anywhere and God asks you to give that up, sometimes we take that personally! “You want my burger and fries God?”
And God says
“no, I want your heart.”

Here’s some personal opinion – you are forewarned!
To me, one of the saddest parts of the non liturgical churches is the lack of the ability to celebrate the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis. Now, there is an option here to remind you that you are not take the Lord’s Supper unworthily. I’m assuming that many churches decided not to continue the monthly or weekly communion offerings because they want to make sure that their people are prepared to take communion. I’ve also heard that it is the reason. Also, that they do not want their people to take communion for granted.

I want to let you know, I drink water everyday and I don’t take that for granted. Now yes, I do more than those without water, but I am thankful that I have water. I also have to choose to participate in this water, and there are places that I can drink water that makes me sick because it is not good water. I am thankful for the clean water that is provided for me, daily.

Also, I have access to a toilet that is indoors and is in climate controlled environment. I have one at church and in my home. When I go hiking, and I can’t get to the Outhouse latrine easily, then I really appreciate the fact that I have access to running water and and toilets! I use it everyday. I only need to not have access to a toilet once for me to really, really appreciate the availability of the toilet! Or even worse, when I need a toilet in home, as in, a very often type of need, and I need to be able to get to the next toilet between places I’m going so that (you know what I mean) there’s no accidents, I really do appreciate toilets. Like I said I appreciate running water.

I appreciate that I do not have to grind my own wheat and make my own bread. I can go get toxin laid, dead flour, and garbage filled loaves of bread by the pound, if I want to. This is the blessing and the curse of having an abundance! We, in America, have so much, and so many options that we tend to take it for granted. Yet, do we choose to go without?

Why do I appreciate running water toilets and being able to pick and choose what kind of bread I might want? It’s because I have chosen to have a heart of gratitude and to remember
1. What it was like to have the well go dry in our house in Indiana,
2. what it was like to grind our wheat and make our bread from scratch because our children had allergic situations,
3. what it was like to be out hiking in the wilderness and needing to go to the bathroom and there is nowhere to go.

Personally, I appreciate the way the book of common prayer and the order of service leads a person right through Confession of sins and thanks for forgiveness before we take part in communion, to remember that the reason that I have forgiveness, the reason that I have Grace, the reason that I have mercy, is because Jesus Christ died on the cross, shed his blood and loved me enough to do it for me. The Order of Service promotes preparation for taking communion.

I’m supposed to pray every day – does that mean I take it for granted? I can. It can become ‘rote’ and ritual, but whose fault is that? MINE
I’m supposed to read my bible every day – does that mean I take IT for granted? I can. Again, we in America have access to every type of Bible,in whatever color, size, shape, design and version, whereas, others in the world have difficulty obtaining ONE piece of Bible without putting their life on the line. Whose fault is it if I take this for granted? MINE.
I’m supposed to practice Christianity every day – does that mean it becomes a habit, without meaning? It can! Again, whose fault is it that my heart loses it’s connection with the Father through the son, via the Holy Spirit? WHO moved away? ME!

So how often should I participate in communion?

The Episcopal Church doesn’t want you to have communion more than once a day. Jesus says “As soft as you shall do this eat of this bread drink this cup, do this in remembrance of me.” Now does that mean as often as you eat this special bread and drink the special drink? Of course.

Could that mean I would say we should look upon every time that we are given something to eat and drink that we should look upon the food part that is nourishing our body reminding us of his body broken for us? The drink part, could it be remembering his blood that was poured out for us? I don’t know.

I do know that most Christians give thanks for their food before their food gets eaten every time. Why are we giving thanks? Granted, we are thanking God for giving us this food and “in everything give thanks for this is the will of God!” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) I’d like to challenge us all to look at our food as a gift from God to nourish our bodies the way Jesus’s body was broken to nourish our spirits.
I’d like to challenge us all to look at the liquid that we drink, whatever it is, at a meal and remember it is washing us and it’s hydrating us and the blood of Jesus Christ washed our sins away and reconstituted our dead dry bones and heart.

I keep hearing that we should have Christmas everyday! People should celebrate Christmas all year long! Here’s my concern. While he had to be born fulfilling all of the prophecies, if he had not gone to the cross, none of the other would have mattered.

Let’s celebrate Resurrection every day! Give thanks every day for what Christ did for us on Calvary!

Prayer and Worship
Come to the Table – Sidewalk Prophets

Communion Song – Bethany Worship and John Stockstill

Lent Day Twelve we’ll talk about the New Covenant!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

Lent 2018 Week Three (updated for 2023)

What is LENT? (a link to all of the LENT devotions)
Wikipedia has a very complete explanation for many of the christian denominations that observe LENT.
Short and simple, it’s making oneself prepared through humility to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the Christian equivalent to Passover for the Jews.
We’ve created a Face book group to follow and discuss, please join us! – 40 days of Lent!

11 – (3/6) Upper Room – Lord’s Supper – REMEMBER – Mt 26:17-30; Luke 22:14-20 small cup and plate
12 – (3/7) Upper Room – Lord’s Supper – NEW COVENANT – Mt 26:17-30; Luke 22:14-20 small cup and plate
13 – (3/8) Upper Room – Lord’s Supper – cup and body – Mt 26:17-30; Luke 22:14-20 small cup and plate
14 – (3/9)Upper Room -Jesus washes the disciples feet – John 13:2-17; great is least – Luke 22:24-30 terry cloth
15 – (3/10)Upper Room – Declaration of Judas’ betrayal John 13:21-30, Luke 22 ; 21-23 knife;
16 – (3/11) Upper Room – Peter’s confession of Loyalty Mt 26:31-33, John 13:36-38
(3/12) Third Sunday of Lent SUNDAY WORSHIP – REMEMBER THE RESURRECTION – “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?”

Lenten Cross Instructions
Our Lenten cross in progress.

I want these to be family activities, therefore, I’m going to list a few free coloring page websites here:

~~~~~~~

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

Second Sunday of Lent – 3/5/2023

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two
We have created a facebook group in which to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Second Sunday of Lent

If you are doing the Lenten Cross – light all but one. I am starting from the bottom, it seems symbolic to me. Here’s a photo of my cross:

Second Sunday of Lent

The Second Sunday of Lent
The final words of Jesus
“Today you will be with me in Paradise”

Music
Pass Me not Oh Gentle Savior – Don Moen

Scripture
Luke 23:43 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
43 And He said to him, “I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Devotion
I want to break this down by word.
Today -Jesus isn’t saying that sometime in the future or even tomorrow. Jesus is saying to this man, who has repented(confessed his sins) while hanging on the cross next to Jesus, today you will be with me in Paradise. This man knew he was a sinner. This man probably knew that according to the law he was going to hell. This man acknowledged Jesus as the son of God and asked him to forgive him.(Luke 23:39-43). Jesus’s response was today…TO HIM!

You – Jesus isn’t saying that the other thief was going to be with him in Paradise. Jesus isn’t saying that the ones who put him on the cross would be with him in Paradise. Jesus is speaking specifically to this man, who had declared his faith in Jesus, confessed that he was a sinner, and asked to be delivered. Jesus could have called him by name I’m sure, but the way we have it written is you.

YOU! THIS IS A PERSONAL PROMISE! This is a conversation and a promise from Jesus Christ to the thief as Jesus Christ was dying for his sins for him. As we know later in the story Jesus dies before the two thieves do and therefore Jesus paid the price before the thief died and therefore again, Jesus died first, paid the price and then the thief died and he went to Paradise to be with Jesus. Talk about a last minute conversion! Yet, that is all it takes to be promised life in Jesus! Recognize you are a sinner, repentance(in this case, confession and sorry), confess that Jesus is Lord, Wait – the next part of that verse is believe that God raised him from the dead! Romans 10:9 The thief was confessing Jesus BEFORE the prophecy was even fulfilled! The thief was confessing something that even those that had walked with Jesus were not sure about! The ultimate death bed confession! WOW!

WILL BE – this might be a bit nit-picky, but I’m going to say it anyway: will be.
Today.
you.
will be.
It’s not today you might be. It’s not today you could be. It’s today you WILL BE with me in Paradise. These are the words of Jesus Christ, the son of the Living God, the God whose word spoke creation into being, the One who is the way, the truth and the light and life, and God cannot lie! Jesus was not just saying something to make him feel good. Jesus wasn’t just using some strange turn of phrase to sound good in the King James version. When Jesus said that the thief will be with me in Paradise that’s what he meant.
He meant I’m going to die and pay the price.
Then, you’re going to die, and your sins will be forgiven and
then, you will be with me in Paradise.

Let every man be a liar but God is faithful and cannot lie(Romans 3:4; Num 23:19). What an amazing confirmation for this man as he hangs on the cross next to the man that he’s committing his life to, or what is left of it.

WITH ME – the need for Salvation is that by sin we are separated from God. That’s what happened with Adam and Eve in the garden.
They disobeyed God,
He had to remove them from the garden or Paradise, and
they no longer got to walk with him in the evening and
no longer had perfect fellowship with him.

Somehow Enoch walked with God and ended up being raptured/taken up.
Elijah had some amazing relationship with God that the Chariot came and picked him up and took him up to heaven.

We are not able to walk with God in the way that Adam and Eve did in the garden, or not willing to walk with God in the way that Enoch, Elijah, or even Moses – the friend of God – did.
Even so, our human nature does desire some sort of connection with the supernatural and that is our heart cry for us to be with God.

The thief just declared that Jesus was the son of God and was not a sinner and asked him to take him to his kingdom. In the midst of dying, Jesus looks at him and says you will be with me. I imagine a life of crime would be one that’s very lonely. Always looking over your shoulder and such like and whatever drove the man to a life of crime would be something that again would cause extreme loneliness.

In my life, having mental illness and having a history of abuse and some other things have caused me to be peculiar enough that I have spent much time being lonely. There are people that would say “yeah I’ll be with you” and they are until life gets rough or until the second or third time I have had to back out of something because of an anxiety attack or migraine or pain or whatever. Sometimes it takes 10 to 12 times and yet I’m not someone that they can just call up and say “hey, Let’s go do this or that” and I can drop everything and go. People get tired that I have disabilities and difficulties.

Even worse than that, because of a life of low self-esteem and self-loathing, I’m constantly dealing with “what if they find out who I really am they won’t like me and they will desert me.” These are called cognitive distortions and yet they are real, and they make for a very very lonely existence. It only takes a few times where somebody actually makes good on what are supposedly cognitive distortion lies to re-establish those cognitive distortions that “everybody hates, me nobody likes me, I think I’ll go eat worms!”

Here’s this thief. Thieves are not cared for in the least. Think about how in the old west the cattle rustlers were despicable, horse thieves where despicable all because they stole the livelihood of others. There was no insurance policies for someone who was robbed back in Jesus’s day. Someone steals something from you and it’s gone and if that was the only something you had, now you are in a world of hurt.
I think about Matthew the tax collector or Zacchaeus, and how they were hated because they were tax collectors and they took extra. They were kind of government sanctioned thieves. The Pharisees were constantly ridiculing Jesus for spending his time with publicans and sinners and that if Jesus was actually the Son of God he would never spend time with these type of people.

Jesus stating to this thief that he would be with him speaks volumes

IN PARADISE – This can get very tricky because of various theological viewpoints. There is some question as to where was Abraham when the Lazarus the poor man died and the rich man came and said send him to talk to my brothers and Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom(Luke 16:19-31).

Some think that that was Hades, a waiting place until Christ died on the cross and brought them back up taking them to heaven.
Some think that there is a place that’s not quite the kingdom of heaven but is not hell and it’s waiting place that when Christ returns in the Rapture and he calls up and then the dead in Christ will rise first will come up and meet him in the clouds.
There’s the Catholic perspective of purgatory and I don’t know enough about that to speak on it.

There is the statement in Ephesians 1:20 where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and we are seated in the heavenlies with him now(Ephesians 2:6)? Is that figurative because we’re not there yet or when Stephen saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of God(Acts 7:56) just before he was stoned, was that stating that Jesus had died on the cross, he gone to set the dead free and then he went up ascended into heaven? That is what happens in Acts 1:9-11 and Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Then there’s the passage in Revelations where the martyrs are under the altar asking God “how long do we have to wait before judgment comes on the world?” Revelations 6:9-11. All of this to say there’s a lot of variations out there to believe, to research and to decide on.

For what it’s worth here’s my take.

Where Jesus is is Paradise.

To be with Jesus is to be in Paradise.

I don’t know how many realms there are. Hell, Hades, Death. I know that Paul talks about being taken up to a third level of Heaven.
I like Got Questions Explanation of what Paul said:

In 2 Corinthians 12:2 Paul says he knew a man (assumed to be himself—he is speaking in the third person) who went to the “third heaven.” The “third heaven” here simply means the spiritual dwelling of God, as opposed to the other two “heavens,” the atmosphere and outer space. The three “heavens” implied in 2 Corinthians 12:2 would be the three different realms that we call “the sky,” “outer space,” and the “spiritual heaven.”

My point is that this man, dying next to Jesus, was promised that he wasn’t going to be lying in a grave rotting, that he was not going into nothingness, that he was not going into that Hades(the place where the rich man was was constantly to tormented by fire(Luke 16:19-31)).

Jesus said today you will be with me in Paradise.

My Story
I have had three near-death experiences. I have two that I have small paintings that depict, in part, what I experienced.. I have one painting in progress. I can tell you that in those near death experiences the beauty that I saw was so intense that I could feel the colors. The light permeated every cell of my body and the love washed over me as if I was immersed in liquid love. I have written about those in two blogs and I’m going to post those here, rather than rewrite them.

Glimpses of Heaven – Stairway to Heaven
Glimpses of Heaven – a Glimpse of Jesus

All I can say is having seen a glimpse, no matter how tainted it is by my finite mind, I declare that the promise of being in Paradise with Christ Jesus is exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think and is so immeasurably enriching and enlightening and life-full, that to hear Jesus say to me some day “today you will be with me in Paradise” is second only to wanting to hear him say “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Confession – Oh my! Hearing that Billy Graham has entered into his eternal life gives me jealousy! To know the riches that he is experiencing now and to know that he definitely paid the price and he sacrificed his life and gave it for the Lord, challenges me. I thank God that I got to know a little bit of the ministry of that man.

When I hear that someone has gone on, specifically, someone who has lived a ripe life for the Lord and was ready to go, I am full of rejoicing because I know I’m going to see them again! I know, in part, what an amazing party and celebration they’re going to have that our finite minds cannot comprehend. Everything here pales in comparison!

I do think that this is one of my favorite phrases that Jesus says at the end of his life. And I hope this gives you a little bit of an insight as to why I feel that way.

There’s a part of this verse I have not covered. Jesus said something else in Luke 23:43
A Bit of a word study:
Truly – NIV, ESV, NAS, BEREAN, CSB
I assure you – NLT
Verily – KJV, JUBILEE, ASV
I promise – CEV
I tell you with certainty – ISV
AMEN – ARAMAIC
I tell you in solemn truth – WEYMOUTH
I can guarantee this truth – GOD’S WORD TRANSLATION.

Jesus made a promise….declared a promise…I think in this moment, Jesus breathed that creative power, and the man became a new creature. Jesus was being GOD!

Numbers 23:19 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
19 God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?

2 Corinthians 1:20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
20 For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen” is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory.

The same promises that Jesus gave to this man, He gives to us.
The same guarantee that Jesus gave to this man, He gives to us.
Can it be anymore beautiful? No.
But, there is a down side to this story. The other thief.

He was on the other cross. He ridiculed Jesus.
There is a saying – in response to living your life for Christ being fantasy.

If I’m wrong – and there is nothing after this, what have I lost?
If I’m right – you will have lost everything.

What would it have taken for that other thief to hedge his bets? The thing is, it’s a heart attitude. He didn’t want to believe. His heart was hardened. He was presented with the gospel by the other thief. He said no, by not saying yes. In Lent Day Eight, I talked about Jesus crying out for those to believe in the LIGHT. It takes a response.

Another saying I’ve heard about pastors, but since we touched on the martyrs, and I’m not shy about the life of being a Christian is not a bed of roses(unless you include the thorns), I’m going to share this.

The Christian Life is hard –
but the retirement plan is out of this world!

Is there anything that is keeping you from saying “Jesus – please remember me today?”
Here are some simple tools for taking care of this need.
Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

You can have that need for the supernatural in your life FILLED TODAY!

Don’t be a Judas!

Prayer and Worship

Just As I am – Aaron Shust

At Calvary – Casting Crowns

~~~~~~~

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

2018 Lent Day Ten 3/4/2023

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two
We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Ten
Upper Room

Music
In the Upper Room – the Gatlin brothers

The Upper Room – Mahalia Jackson

Scripture

Luke 22:7-13 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Preparation for Passover
7 Then the Day of Unleavened Bread came when the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us, so we can eat it.”

9 “Where do You want us to prepare it?” they asked Him.

10 “Listen,” He said to them, “when you’ve entered the city, a man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters. 11 Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ 12 Then he will show you a large, furnished room upstairs. Make the preparations there.”

13 So they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Mark 14:12-16 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Matthew 26:17-19 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

An unnamed man, going about his business (carrying a water jug) leads the disciples to the house where the owner is willing to open up for Jesus! What is up with this? Do things like this really happen?

My story

Many years ago, back before cell phones existed and when Star Trek Communicator flip phones were still considered sci-fi fantasy, I was sitting in my home when there was a knock on my door. On the other side of the door stood a young man 19 or so, dressed and in the 70’s Jesus Freak style. He looked at me and said “you’re a Christian, right?”

I said “yes, I am. Why?”

He said “because God sent me to this house to ask to borrow your guitar so that I could share Jesus with someone down in the park that I’ve been ministering to.”

Dumbfounded!
Did I have a guitar?
Yes, I did.
It was committed to Jesus Christ.

Obviously I loaned him my guitar! Now there was a lot of walking involved because the guy had to walk at least four blocks to get to my house and I don’t know what part of the park.he was in. He had passed by easily two dozen houses. God told him to come to my house for a guitar. I provided the guitar(which God had provided for me in another story of his provision) and he went back and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ to somebody. Several hours later he, came back and returned my guitar.

To this day, I have no idea who that person was, who the person he was ministering to was, and what the outcome was. What I do know is how it felt to have someone show up at my door, stating that they knew that I was a Christian, that I had a guitar, and I would be willing to loan it to someone to spread the gospel.

Back to Jesus.

The passage starts with the disciples asking him what he wants done about Passover. So this isn’t an incident where Jesus had pre organized this guy showing up with a jug of water, going to a house ,and this house was already set it up. Jesus knew it was going to happen and it happened just like he said. Was it because he had snuck away and talked to the owner and ask them to orchestrate this Grins and Giggles?

I take the Bible by faith. I believe what it says. Sometimes there’s a twist in my life that makes my walk a little bit more interesting. In this very case the twist for my ability to believe about the preparation for Passover is because I was that person to whom Jesus sent a disciple to for a guitar to preach.

In contrast to No room at the Inn! This man had room for Jesus and His followers.

Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us!
For Now – He has prepared an upper room available to US – in His presence – to prepare us for our growth and purpose and fulfillment of our calling in Him!

Farmer’s Prayer with Sweet Hour of Prayer – Jimmy Dean
Sweet hour of Prayer – Radiance Acapella
Sweet Hour of Prayer – Casting Crowns

~~~~~~~

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

2018 Lent Day Eight – 3/2/2023

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two
We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Eight
Believe or Not, that is the Question

Music:
I hear Jesus Calling – F. C. Barnes and company
Jesus is Calling – Elevation Worship

Scripture:
John 12:35-50

verses 35-36
35 Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.”

then verses 44-30
44 Then Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in Me believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me. 45 And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears My words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects Me and doesn’t accept My sayings has this as his judge:[f] The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a command as to what I should say and what I should speak. 50 I know that His command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

Devotion
Jesus IS the LIGHT!

John 1:4 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
4 Life was in Him,[a]
and that life was the light of men.

John 3:19 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
19 “This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.

John 8:12 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The Light of the World
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

In John 12:42-43 we read

42 Nevertheless, many did believe in Him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, so they would not be banned from the synagogue. 43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

John later clarifies this

1 John 1:6 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing[a] the truth.

Yesterday, Lent Day Seven, we talked about having ears to hear, and at the end of that post, I stated that a response is expected.

A year ago, I was going through the FIRST verse of Psalm 23 to declare that THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. This is David’s RESPONSE! He wrote Psalm 23!

From John 12:35-50

35 Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer.
Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.”

Jesus tells them what response is necessary to BECOME SONS OF LIGHT!

Jesus CRIES OUT!

44 Then Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in Me believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me.
45 And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness.

It’s as if the heart of Christ is breaking as He pleads with us to believe!

Continuing from yesterday’s post on hearing, God WANTS us to HEAR!

Psalm 81:11-13

Micah 6:1-5

Luke 16:31 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
31 “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”

It is crucial to hear – and then to make a choice.

Joshua 24:15 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
15 But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.”

IT IS A CHOICE!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.

17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow down to other gods and worship them,
18 I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not live long in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan.

19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
20 love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful[c] to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

OUR choice is between Life and Death – Blessing and Curse – life and prosperity, death and adversity. OUR Choice effects not only ourselves, but our descendants – it provides a foundation for their choice!

BELIEVE!

Acts 16:31 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Our choice AFFECTS THE HOUSEHOLD!

CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH

Romans 10:9-10 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

For more specifics on how to make a choice FOR Life which is the LIGHT of men – Jesus Christ, Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
In honor of Billy Graham who just went home to Jesus today, I am also providing his version of the Plan of salvation

The final piece of today’s passage is from John 12:35-50 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

48 The one who rejects Me and doesn’t accept My sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
49 For I have not spoken on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a command as to what I should say and what I should speak.
50 I know that His command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

We’re back to God speaking – Jesus is His WORD to us. We will not be judged by predestination and election. We will not be judged by who or what we were. We will be judged by the Words that Christ spoke, and I daresay, all of the Words that are contained in the Holy Bible! We will be judged by creation that declares the existence of a creator. We will be judged for whether or not we sought to know him. And, we will be judged by the fact that HE spoke the words, and we chose not to hear, listen, obey or respond. We will be judged on whether we believed or not. There are various quotes in the self help arena. I have no idea of the original author for this one.

Deciding not to decide is a decision in itself.

The thing is, God has made the decision easy for us!
He’s given us the faith!

Matt 17:20, Luke 17:6

Ephesians 2:8-10 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

Hebrews 11 talks of the enormity of this faith! Key verse:

Hebrews 11:6 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.

Hear the Heart Cry of Jesus!

John 12:36 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve!
Choose LIFE – and we know that the life in Jesus is the Light!

John 1:4-5 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
4 Life was in Him,
and that life was the light of men.
5 That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome[b] it.

CHOOSE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD! Let’s Worship:

All to Jesus I Surrender All – Newsboys
All To Jesus I Surrender – by Casting Crowns

Love Lifted Me – Gaither and Kim Hopper
Your Love lifted Me by Ashmont Hill

~~~~~~~

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

2018 Lent Day Seven 2/21 The Voice of God 3/1/2023

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two
We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Seven
The voice of God.

Music
This is My Father’s World by 2nd Chapter of Acts

Animals are trained to respond to voice commands –

Are we?

Scripture:
John 12:20-36

John 12:27-30 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
27 “Now My soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save Me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name!”[a]
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!”

29 The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.

30 Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for Me, but for you.

Devotion

When God said something over Jesus, there were some that heard it, some clearly, some as thunder, and some did not. (John 12:27)
When Jesus was baptized some heard thunder, some heard God say “this is my son in whom I am well pleased”(Matt 3:17, Luke 3:22; Mark 1:11 ). Some saw a dove descend.
When Christ was transfigured, and Peter wanted to make tabernacles for Moses and Elijah, God calls out again, and says” This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him! ” – Matthew 17:5 The disciples heard that and fell on their faces in terror!

Over and over as Jesus was preaching he said “to him who has ears to hear Let Him hear”. Does this mean that God has created some people to be able to hear on other people not to? Is this a designation of predestination and election? Is this saying that only the chosen get to hear, or is this those who have chosen, get to hear?

When God spoke to Moses, Moses said he couldn’t speak and God asked him “who made your tongue?” And Moses didn’t exactly answer!
When Job was spoken to out of the Whirlwind he said “I was speaking but now I won’t.” When Saul was stuck blind on the road to Damascus, he heard the voice saying “Why are you persecuting me?” He heard it so clearly, that he asked Who are you?(Acts 9:5)
These men HEARD the voice of God, and it changed them. Were they chosen or did they have hearts that chose to hear?

In the beginning God spoke let there be light.(Genesis 1) God’s voice is the source of creation – The Father
In the Beginning – the spirit hovered over the face of the waters – The Holy Spirit.
In the Beginning was the word and the Word was God and the Word was with God – Jesus (John 1)

All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created.

We know that God’s voice spoke words. We know that the word of God is Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus Christ was part of the creative power in the beginning. We know that God moves upon water as The Holy Spirit, in the beginning. We have a Triune God to manifest himself in Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Three distinct personalities in one complete person. Several times, when God speaks, the fullness of the Godhead is displayed.

~~~~Theology of the Trinity on Wikipedia, Answers in Genesis, Desiring God, and possibly my favorite – The Gospel Coalition~~~~

GOD SPEAKS TO US! Do we hear?

At creation everything heard the voice of God and responded perfectly. Then sin came into the world and things started to devolve. I completely believe in evolution in the fact that once sin came into the world and when disease and death started happening, things devolved from their original perfection. Creation started being broken and polluted and things didn’t work as they were created to work as they were intended to work. That causes difficulties in the balance of our world. Sin dulls our senses. It mutes our hearing and makes our eyes dim to see and makes us slow to understand.

What makes the difference?
The people standing around Jesus when he was baptized heard different things.
The disciples heard different things when he talked about his upcoming death.
Those at the mount of transfiguration heard and were terrified!
Did they hear different things because some were chosen to hear, and some not?
Or was it because some had wax in their ears?
Some, didn’t have ears to hear at all.

Wax in the ears
I envision the scene in the Shrek movie where Shrek reaches into his ear and pulls out a huge chunk of wax and mold it into a candle to light his dinner table! I’m sure that everyone has had someone in their lives that had to see a doctor because they could not hear, and it was because they had huge build up of wax that was hindering their hearing.

What if we do have wax in our ears and we cannot hear clearly? Does that mean there’s no hope for those with wax in their ears? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that they have a little further to go because they have to cleanse the wax in order that the voice can come through and then the wax does not prevent the washing of the water of the word.

The good thing is that those people actually knew that they heard something and they turned to others and said “we heard a thundering sound, what did you hear?” This is part of the first discipleship program! Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel! If we do have wax in our ears or a waxy coating over our hearts that prevents us to completely hear, we have the opportunity to know that we heard a voice and to seek and to find and to ask those who have heard what they heard and to then apply truth to our lives.

Wax in your ears could be considered the same thing as not cleaning out your heart. An unclean heart separates us from the Father, and deadens our spiritual senses. Some will come to Jesus with a heart that is open and ready and be clean from repentance so that we can receive the creative power of the old being passed away and our own creation made completely new. Others hear something, but they don’t know what they are hearing. It is up to those that can hear to explain it to the others, and to help them to know what was said, and help them to apply the gift of repentance, and clean out their ears so that they can hear the voice of God! To hear that voice and we have to let it wash over us.

Both have to have cleansed their heart(ear = H+ear+T). They HAVE to choose! All are given the call – John 3:16 – but not all choose to hear. All are given the opportunity to recognize there is a God (Romans 2) but not all choose to see.

Wax vs Oil
You put a coating on wood furniture to protect it from water and liquids getting into it. So that the water of disaster such as someone’s spilling something or putting a cup that sweats on this very expensive piece of wood, doesn’t destroy the wood itself.

Wax does prevent the liquids from getting in, it’s cheaper than oil, but it doesn’t actually seep into the wood. Rather, it puts a coating on top of the wood to protect the wood from water damage on the exterior, but it doesn’t nourish the wood. Underneath the wax, the wood becomes dry and brittle and is subject to damage and disease and weakness, which is another aspect of not receiving The Voice or the word.

Oil can be put on wood and nourishes the wood and the oil gives the wood a natural repellent for against water damage. It is more expensive. It needs to be more pure than the wax. We need to use the oil on the wood in order to nourish the wood and then the wood has its own natural repellent against the storms of life. The oil is the Holy Spirit. If wax was placed there first, it has to be removed in order for the oil to penetrate, or there will be NO benefit from putting oil onto the wood. The wax repels the oil.

So the progression is thus:

God the Father speaks, God the Son is the word, God the Holy Spirit is the oil. Our hearts have to hear the voice of God, we need to understand the word of God, and then we need to apply the oil of God so that we can withstand the storms of life. We have to remove the wax from our ears, we have to remove the coating of false protection from our hearts, so that we can hear the voice of God, understand the word of God and apply the Holy Spirit oil which is quickening power. It is God the Father speaking to us, the word of Jesus Christ applied to our hearts that removes the waxy old dead nature and breathes the creative quickening power of the Holy Spirit upon us and we become new creatures able to declare the glory of God.

What about those that CAN’T Hear?
That is too big of a subject for this single blog, but in short, the Bible talks about everyone knowing about the existence of God because of creation(Romans 1:18-22). The puritans believed that Creation preached a gospel that declared 1. The existence of God, 2. The order and design of God, 3. Dignity of self(by wanting to be treated right, naturally), and 4. Conscience (the natural knowledge that to hurt someone is wrong). This ‘bible’ does not lead to salvation, but it does lead to seeking, and everyone is held responsible for this.

Romans 10 explains the salvation issue very clearly. I suggest that you read through the whole chapter!
Here is the verse that speaks to the fact that WE need to speak!

14 But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

What this shows is that it is the responsibility of those of us that HAVE HEARD to share the gospel with others, to speak in a language they can understand in love, and plant the seeds, so that if they will, they will become a whosoever that believes in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16).

Mark 16:15-16 King James Version (KJV)
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Rescue the perishing – Dallas Christian Adult Concert Choir

You need to be careful what you listen to.
Eve listened to the serpent, Adam listened to Eve – neither one took this counsel back to God for clarification! BOOM! No more paradise!

Some sad examples in our lives:

When a new mother is given a child and she hears the voice of motherhood calling her, and yet it is waxed over by pains and hurts and destruction, she may question whether or not she should have this baby.
When a man hears a voice to love a woman but his heart has been waxed over with derogatory music, videos and pictures, his life is tainted with destruction and abuse.
When a person is flooded with societal notions of perfection they cannot attain, and they have only heard that their worth is based upon these standards, they may choose self harm.

These have been trampled down by life experiences. They have listened to false comforts. They were destroyed by the lies they were listening to and how those false voices drowned out the voice of God that calls us all to Him, and to glorify HIM in our bodies, as well as to be loved, cherished, and cared for JUST AS WE ARE!. They need to be healed, and have the hard ground broken up – Hosea 10:12, just as we did. It’s not easy, it is painful, but it can be done. We must remember to listen to the Voice of Truth! It’s the only healing, life giving, resurrecting voice on our planet!

The Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns

Summary?
Who hears? (Luke 8:4-15; Mark 4:1-20; Matthew 13:1-23)

those with soft hearts – clear ears – good soil
those with so-so hearts – wax in their ears – weedy, rocky soil
those with hard hearts – didn’t or can’t hear – trampled soil

God promises to hear our voice, our cry. God speaks to us – will we listen? Will we hear HIS voice?

Let’s worship!
I heard an old old story(Victory in Jesus) by Guy Penrod
I Love to tell the Story – Alan Jackson
I can Hear my Savior Calling – Dallas Christian Adult Concert Choir

~~~~~~~

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

2018 Lent Day Six – 2/28/2023

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two
We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Six
Jesus Weeps

For those Tears I died – The Isaacs

If That Isn’t Love – The Blackwood Brothers Quartet

Scripture

Luke 19:41-44 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Jesus’ Love for Jerusalem
41 As He approached and saw the city, He wept over it, 42 saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Because of the refusal of Jerusalem – the Jews – His chosen people – to receive Him, and for what He knew was about to happen.

The ONE that knew He was going to raise Lazarus – wept.

John 11:35 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
35 Jesus wept.

He joined in the grief of those around him.
In Lazarus’s case, He knew that He was going to raise Him from the dead. Some have said, maybe he felt sorry for having to raise Lazarus – he was in a better place! I don’t know. I do know that He joined in the weeping with Mary and Martha.

His compassion for Jerusalem when they had rejected him is nothing short of Divine! He knew He was going to the cross, at their hands. He knew that He was going to carry the sins of all mankind – and still, His compassion demanded that He Forgive.

Charles Spurgeon said:

A Jesus that never wept could never wipe away my tears.

Our High Priest

Hebrews 4:14-16 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

He is our Advocate – by dying on our cross!

1 John 2:1-2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
2 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

1 John 4 – the Love of God – in this whole chapter, but here are a few verses I’ve pulled out:

verse 10-11 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the[d] propitiation for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

verse 15-16 15 Whoever confesses[g] that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

verse 19 We love because He first loved us.

Tears –
God Hears them –

Psalm 6:8

God is touched by them –

Psalm 9:12

God acknowledges them:

Psalm 34:15 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry for help.

AND
God keeps each one!

Psalm 56:8 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 You Yourself have recorded my wanderings.[a]
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your records?

We are different, from those that don’t choose him-

1 John 3:1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
3 1 Look at how great a love[a] the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him.

God has bestowed upon us His Love, His compassion, His mercy, His grace.
He weeps over us. There are tears of sadness.
He rejoices over us. Don’t we also have tears of joy?
HE LOVES US! And He loved us while we were yet sinners! Oh what a glorious thought!

One last promise:

Psalm 30:5 weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Because He lives(Amen) – by Matt Maher

We were the reason by David Meece

Because He lives – Guy Penrod

~~~~!~~resources~~!~~

I want these to be family activities – therefore, I am going to attempt to give links to free coloring pages. Unfortunately, I cannot find anything about Jesus Wept.
There are other coloring pages at Lent Week Two
~~~~~~~

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

The Wildberry Patch

Be Engrafted into the VINE to produce Eternal Fruit

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