Achilles-the Heel Snatcher

A friend of mine from church passed this article on to me after I tore my achilles playing basketball.  The article is written by Mart DeHaan of RBC Ministries/Daily Bread, October/2013, w/o permission but I will pass it on anyway feeling crediting him with the article is satisfactory.
In Greek mythology, Achilles is a great warrior who dies from a poisonous arrow that lodges in his heel.  Prior to his birth, a prophecy had foreseen his untimely and early death. So when he was born, his mother dipped him in the River Styx that was thought to give magical protection.  Holding him by the back of the foot, she let the waters wash over his body. Achilles' (the baby's name) heel was the one place that remained dry and thus, unprotected.
This mythical account of a mighty warrior's "vulnerable heel" may sound familiar to readers of the Bible. In the first pages of Genesis, we find a foreshadowing of a son of Eve who would heroically crush the head of a great deceiving serpent while receiving a mortal strike to the heel(3:15).
For thousands of years, this obscure prophecy remained a mystery. Yet the lies and deception that gave rise to the prediction are woven into the bigger story of the Bible.
Just a few chapters later, Genesis introduces us to another deceiver who also went after the heel of his victim. This time, however, the aggressor and victim show up in the innocence of newborn twins.  As they came into the world, the second of the two infants grabbed the heel of his firstborn brother. The younger brother was therefore given the name Jacob, which means "heel-grabber" or "supplanter."
For whatever reason, the name was prophetic.  Jacob became a brother and son who did not deserve to be trusted. While still a young man, he defrauded his older brother out of his firstborn inheritance and family blessing.  Then, to make matters worse, Jacob repeatedly lied to his father who was too old and blind to see what was happening(Gen 27:1-29). Jacob's deceit was so bold that he had to leave home to avoid being killed by the older twin he had defrauded. This is where the story becomes even more difficult to imagine.  After all of Jacob's lies, God appeared to him in a dream and predicted that, like his grandfather Abraham, Jacob had been chosen to be part of a legacy that would bring blessing to all the families of the world (Gen 28:13-14). In the process, God promised to be His ever-present provider and protector (Gen 28:15).
The prophecy seems to defy moral logic. Jacob didn't deserve such honor. He was a born liar. How could God bless someone who seemed to have so much in common with the original snake-like deceiver of Eve? How could such a man become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel?  Yet, in the unfolding drama of the Bible, Jacob turned out to be a picture of "every man." The prophet Jeremiah describes all of our hearts as being more deceitful than any of us can imagine(Jer.17:9).
Now, fast forward to the event that sheds light on the complex intrigue and mystery of an ancient prophecy.  As the sun set over Jerusalem, a rabbi by the name of Jesus shared a Passover meal with fellow sons of Jacob.  As he broke bread with His friends, God's innocent Passover Lamb suggested that one of them was going to lift a heel against Him (John 13:18).
In Jesus' day, the idea of lifting a heel against another person had become a Middle Eastern way of expressing disrespect and contempt. Whether it was an idiomatic expression that can be traced back to the prophecy of the garden might be difficult to prove. But what can be said is that nowhere does "lifting one's heel" in contempt come to greater significance than in the way the ancient prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was about to be fulfilled. Nor could anyone have imagined that the One who would use His heel to crush the head of the Serpent would first liken Himself to a snake.
Yet, sometime before the Last Supper, Jesus had done just that.
Just before saying what God was going to do to show His love for the world(John 3:16), Jesus had predicted, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness[Numbers 21:9],so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him' (John 3:14-15).
Jesus let it happen. The Serpent struck His heel through the nails of crucifixion. The blow was fatal. Jesus died.
Yet, three days later, Christ broke the power of death. Rising from the dead, He crushed the head, and the case, of the accuser of our souls.
What wisdom and irony that God would use Satan's attempt to lift the heel against Jesus as a means of putting the Serpent himself under the crushing foot of God.

A Zoe Life

Matt 19:16-19
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  (KJV)
In this passage of the Bible, a man who we call the rich young ruler, comes to Jesus and asks Him a very serious question. He respects Jesus and feels assured that this miracle worker can answer his inquiry. The rich young ruler desires something that every person wants to know: something about what takes place after this life, something about eternal life, something about life after this one.
It is a very real question, a very deep issue. When you think about it, no one is searching for eternal death or trying to find ways to die.
We as Christians know that eternal life is not merely what we will experience someday when we pass on; our eternal "life" destination begins when we make Jesus the Lord of our life. As a Christian, we're aware that eternal life is the very life of God.  It is that which produces fulfillment, regardless of situations or circumstances. It is the very life of God that we possess within our spirits.
In the question posed to Jesus by the rich young ruler, the word that is used in Jesus' time for life  is zoe. It is the same word that is used in the Gospel of John when Jesus said, "In Him (Jesus) was life (zoe), and the life (zoe) was the light of men.
But what does Zoe mean? Zoe life is the very life of God.  It is the essence of His being and the personification of His character.  It is that which can only be received from Him because He is the point of its origin.  Did you get that last part....it is life received from Him because He (Jesus) is the point of its origin.  In other words it begins in Him, flows out to us from Him and also now, get this, since He is the origin, what we receive is a part of Him. 
Now think about this, Jesus could have given a lot of different answers to the question of what you need to do to experience life. He could have said, you need to pray more.  He could have said that you must be the servant of all, or you must give a "seed" of a certain amount of money (don't get me started on that one!)  Jesus could have told the man to do a 21 day fast. But that's not what He said. Jesus told the rich young ruler (and I'm quoting Jesus' very own words, right out of His mouth, {Matthew 19:16-19, }"if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments". "The inquirer said to Him, "?Which ones?" Jesus said, "You shall not murder', 'You shall not commit adultery', 'You shall not steal', 'You shall not bear false witness', 'Honor your Father and your Mother', and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus told the rich young ruler without blinking an eye that life (Zoe) begins by keeping the commandments.
 In light of much of what is being taught in churches today, that is a pretty strange statement!  Jesus said that the key to the longing of man and his most fundamental desire is to keep God's commandments.  Jesus connected Zoe life; the life begining in God and flowing out to us, to the commandments...hmmmmmmmm.
The problem today is that we have separated the personal commitment of receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and its connection to godly behavior and conduct. There are men trying to negate the necessity of righteous behavior and holy living. ?Why. Well, we are now being told that some may feel condemned if we say anything about sin.  We are told that raising a standard of righteousness and holy living is something that is unattainaable and will therefore cause many to give up.  We are told that the preaching of the Ten Commandments and holy living is "law" and not grace. That it's a thing of the past. Obviously, Jesus did not get that memo!

Superman's Phone Booth

Thought:  Superman needed a phone booth to transform. No booth, no Superman.
We need Christ, the Holy Spirit...etc.
In the great, seemingly real life but totally fictional movie and comic book hero Superman, we find that our hero is a man named Clark Kent.  Clark is a totally unassuming person of mild temperament and almost backward-like character.  Underneath that timorous personality was a magical hero named Superman. But in order for our nervous, shy and backward Clark Kent to become the world-changing hero, Clark always needed a phone booth. From that phone booth, he would blow out into Gotham City with powers and world-changing strength uncontested by any. If there wasn't a phone booth there couldn't be a Superman, and if there was no Superman then there was no one to foil all the "bad guy's" plans.
It's so amazing for me to sit here and think that with all the wonders  Superman did and of all the people he rescued, not too many people spoke much of those phone booths. Yet, that was where a plain ordinary man became a Superhero.  The phone booth was the necessary environment required for the transformation. No booth no rescue! No booth no world changer!  No booth no faster than a speeding bullet. No booth, no dynamic breakout into the Gotham City skyline.  You take away the phone booth and Lois Lane never swoons in Superman's arms.
 If you're Superman, that is a tragedy! If you're a reader, that is devastating! Gosh that phone booth was as important as his mask or cape, his boots or ability to "super see" or "super hear". That booth wasn't Superman, and it certainly wasn't Clark Kent, but without that booth, you couldn't have a super change over.
  Outside the booth you have Clark Kent, inside the booth you have SUPERMAN! That's a substantial change! Which would you want if you needed to save the world?
 Today we don't have a Superman, not because we have so much kryptonite but because we don't have any phone booths. (hey, everyone's entitled to their own opinion!)  Everyone is carrying iPhone's, cell phones, mobile devices, smart phones and other wireless devices and ETD'S. Add all that up and if you are Gotham City or the world today, you're in a heap of trouble because Superman may be out there, but he doesn't have a phone booth to get into and make the changeover.
I want to tell you, there's nothing worse than having a crisis and having the resolution right there before you but you can't make the two meet.
Ok, Mr. Blog writer, so what is your point?  My point is this: We have a world of problems today.....Christians being persecuted in Syria, Iran, Egypt, North Korea, global famines of food, leadership and vision, pirates on the high sea's, Carnival Cruises limping into port with no power, moral crisis's in America and around the world, and leadership void of righteous men with a sincere message. A weak church that can't even stand up for what it's supposed to believe in - a powerful life-changing Word, but instead we cower to the ungodly ways of the world! We lack a world speaker that can direct the message of Christ to all nations like Billy Graham did in the past. Earthquakes and serious situations everywhere, to say nothing of our own personal, family situations.
   These are the problems and God has the answers to them. Unfortunately, we can't seem to get to the "phone booth" where the transformation takes place and the solution comes. Or we don't even know where to look for the phone booth in order to turn into a spiritual Super hero.  Church, our phone booth is prayer and our phone book is the Bible, but for some reason, we seem to  NOT EVEN BE LOOKING for the phone booth and the transformation that takes place in it! 
  It's time for all of us unassuming, timid, "Christian Clark Kents" to put away our newspapers, get in that booth, read our Bibles, get prayed up and come storming out of that booth with enough power to conquer the evil in this world and bring hope and help to a dying world!

Coming back to the 'Power' in the Blood

In Genesis 2:7 we read how God created man. It is important that we understand that with all the medical marvels we see today and the labratory developments we have come up with, no matter what -  man can never create man.
Man is God's greatest creative achievement on earth, and was made in His likeness. The Bible teaches that man is fearfully and wonderfuly made (Paslm 139:14), far more wonderfully made than the angels (which belong to a previous creation of God.) Angels have no blood in them, for they have no flesh.  Because they have no cells, they have no reproductive potential since the absence of cells cannot compound and make another cell which makes life. Angels are spirits and have only spiritual life.  That's just the way God made them.
But man, now But blood does "carry" life! The life is in the blood the scripture says. It is obvious when we see what happens at death.  Immediately after death, the person is still warm, and will remain so for a brief time. Yet that person is dead because the mysterious life has departed from the blood.  The life of man is carried in his blood stream.  Life itself is spiritual, God breathed, but it must have a physical carrier. This carrier is the blood which flows within the body of every individual.
When God made man, He formed a body from the dust of the ground - from the sustances and chemicals of this planet. Then in spectacular fashion He breathed into this body the breath of life.  In other words, He breathed into this chemical composition some of His own spiritual life, and that life was held in the chemical substance we call blood.  So you can see from the last statements, that the dust to flesh is not life and the blood and flesh combination is not life and blood itself is not life.
Most of us know our own blood type. There are only a few blood types for all human beings. But Jesus 'blood type' was entirely different.  The blood that flowed in His veins was sinless blood b/c it was not contaminated by Adam's sin which brought sin and sickness into human blood. Adamic (human) blood is corrupt and was carried by Mary, who declared that Jesus her son was "God my Saviour' (Luke 1:47). Mary was the chosen carrier of the body of her Son, but all the blood came from God. Jesus' blood did not come from His mother Mary.  No child born to man has its mother's blood.  The blood always comes from the father.  That is why when there is a question of who the father is, you check the man's blood. Since Jesus was the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14) His body was formed and fashioned wonderfully in the womb of Mary His mother, and if you were to check Jesus blood you would find out that there was no father's blood. The blood of Jesus was from God. It came from the Father by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this Blood which flowed in the veins of the Lord Jesus Christ was perfect, heavenly, sinless, infallible blood. Nothing human, and especially nothing from Joseph since the scriptures tell us he never knew Mary(Matthew 1:25). 
The fact of the matter is that God says in the Bible that He prepared a body for Jesus.  It was that body that was created in Mary's womb. "Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me" (Hebrews 10:5). Jesus knew before His birth at Bethlehem that His Father would build and prepare a body for Him, which He later described as the temple of God.  That body had to be made so that it was sinless.  It could not be contaminated with human, earthly blood. He simply came down from heaven and entered into the  body created in the womb of Mary His earthly mother, and builder of His flesh.  This body had the blood type created by God His father. There was no human blood from His earthly father intermixing at all.
To conclude, Jesus had no sin in His body, but He allowed Himself to die for the sins of a sinful humanity.  But, in order to be the sacrifice for sin, Jesus had to have no sin.  If He had sin, then He could not remove sin from man. That is why it is written in the scriptures, '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'? (KJV)
Jesus gave the perfect life that was filled with His perfect, sinless, blood to redeem poor mankind -um, us - who carried death in their bodies. It was pure blood for imperfect, contaminated blood, a life for life, since life is in the blood.
This is why Jesus is described in the Bible as the last Adam. God sent Him to earth in the likeness of sinful Adam, but with pure uncontaminated blood in His veins. God sent him so that He might shed that pure blood of His at Calvary for the life of humanity. Peter called it "precious blood" ( 1 Peter1:19). Can anyone Amen that??

The Mystery Part 3 of 3

Well, finally, we get to the point of just what this "mystery" is.
It is that between that ascension (Jesus being taken up into heaven) and His coming again, between those two stupendous works of God, not seen by the angels, not thought about by the prophets, there's a great gap. Those two works are not side by side.
To the apostle Paul, the events seemed to stand together or at least close to each other. To the believers at Thessalonica those events; Christ's life on earth and then His coming back made them all prepare to leave earth right then and there!
The seers could clearly see those two events but they could never have imagined that there was a great distance of time, thousands of years and events of which was hid only in the counsel of the Almighty between those two works. They couldn't see the apostle Paul, or Peter and his great experience with Cornelious, they couldn't see the book of Acts or Revelation and all those events. 
 It was this the angels could not look into and neither could the prophets or any one else -  - not until the fullness of God's will deems that it is time. They knew the coming, they knew the consummating of the ages, the glory, but nothing else was clear to them.
We as a church, as God's creation, already reached the one great work; the Jesus, Mary and Joseph stuff, the parable stuff, the walk on water stuff, the cross and Calvary, the resurrection and ascension part, but still, even hidden to us, is the second great work.  We know of it and can look through a glass dimly but even we can't see this other work clearly. We can read, but not totally understand the time or all the happenings in the plan of God.  We can see events in this time but not totally understand the times.
 One example is the rapture of the church; we can read the Scriptures but we don't know the time, or anything other than during this event the church is removed from off the earth. We can see the tribulation, the vials, the bowls and all the judgments, we can read of the great White Throne judgment, the 144,000, the voices under the altar crying for vengeance, but even to us living in this time we know nothing more. We can read about the Jews and how they will be reconciled to God, we know there is the anti-Christ, the false prophets, two witnesses, but even to those of us who are close to these events we cannot see any better than the prophets who were far removed from these events.
We know the destiny of the church is that period between those two great works, and we can read the scriptures that tell us the destiny of the church is to be caught out of the world. Raptured away, within the blinking of an eye.  This is amazing and it is only one of a whole list of great events that will take place in between Christ's coming and His eventual return.
The scripture says in 1 Thess 4:15-17, "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until that glorious consummation shall not precede them that fall asleep in Jesus. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord....somebody say "Amen"!
The church, God's bride, Christ's reward for His death on Calvary, you and I and our time period, we are the mystery the angels wanted to look into and see. No wonder it is a pretty exciting time.
And you know what?? That time could be this instant!! Above all, in this busy, chaotic world, be ready and waiting.

The Mystery Part 2 of 3

I want to welcome you to "Part 2", concerning and continuing our theme of;  'The Mystery.' Numerous times, I've seen that when a person starts to learn their Bible, they discover that there is a bushel full of mysteries contained in it.  The one I hear people talk about the most is "When is the end of the world coming? Really? Who knows?
Now I am talking about me, Pastor Paul, of Suburban Community Church here, when I say that I think the second mystery people try to decipher the most is 'Who is the Anti-Christ and when will he appear?' I get that one a lot.
 Then last but not least (not to be out done by biblical mysteries) is the question that alot of America's mom's ask anybody who might be able to help them, 'How can I get my kids to eat broccoli? Now that is a great mystery.
All kidding aside, none of the above questions concern the great mystery that I am referring too. The mystery I am eluding to is a mystery that the prophets tried to see, tried to figure out and tried to understand, but could never enter into it. 
In 1 Peter 1:10-12, Peter wrote, "This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and His great glory afterward.
There was still something God was planning....there was something else hidden in the heart of the counsels of the Almighty that the prophets looked ahead to, yet couldn't seize, they couldn't understand it, they couldn't grasp it; it escaped them. There was still something more and they couldn't reach it.
Let's continue on in the reading, They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you (those of us ahead of them), And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.  Now look at this, it is so awesome...It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen! The angels knew there was something yet in the counsels of God, and they couldn't understand it,  this 'mystery.'
Look at Acts 1:11, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven"  Do you see it there? The angels says, "This Jesus ascending into glory shall descend back to earth in the same way that you saw Him go away." There in that tremendous verse you can see two very powerful works of God. 
The one is: THIS SAME JESUS: the life of Christ here on earth, His incarnation, His miracles, death, resurrection and ascension. Then following that great statement is the second powerful work, "shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."  The angel speaks in one breadth, side by side in almost the same clause about these two works.  But that is all they knew. And what they saw was all they could know. God gave them only a glimpse. The prophets saw this as well. They understood these two works, but that was all they could see: the one, the life of Jesus on earth, His sufferings and death - -  and the second His coming back, the consummation of the ages, His descending from the clouds. These were great revelations to them but they were just glimpses. And to some of the prophets it was so far away, so vague, so much in the distant future, they could see nothing else. To them they stood together, side by side, one taking place after the other or both taking place at the same time.  It was a mystery to them.
But those events are not the mystery I am talking about. Go ahead you can ask. ?Well what is the mystery then? (let's do that in our concluding part 3)

The Mystery, Part 1

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him.
                                                                                                                             Ephesians 3:1-12

He says in the third (3^rd)verse, “That by revelation God hath made known unto me the mystery…which is that in other ages it was not known unto the sons of men, but it is now revealed that the Gentiles shall be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel” [Ephesians 3:3-6].

Then in the ninth verse, God committed to him this gospel message”
To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known through the church this mystery, this manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.    [Ephesians 3:9-11]

Paul says there is a divine purpose, which he calls “a mystery,” that God hid in His own infinite counsels, and no one knew it; not the principalities and powers in heavenly places, least of all the prophets and the saints of the earth.

This great mystery was only made known when the day of Paul came and his fellow holy apostles. That’s a strange and unusual thing; because back in the Old Testament are prophecies, lots of prophecies, many prophecies of the purposes of God in the ages that were and are to come.

Yet Paul says that this thing that has been revealed unto him is a mystery that no one in heaven and no one in earth knew, until it was revealed at the time appointed.
That word “mystery,” a musterion, is not the kind of a thing that we describe or define as a “mystery.” To us a mystery is an unfathomable, inexplicable secret; nobody knows what it is. You can’t understand it. 
That word musterion in the Greek language, translated “mystery” here, isn't used the way we know it; its not even close. The word is taken by Paul from the mystery religions. In the day that Paul lived, the whole Grecian-Roman world was filled with mystery religions. They were all over the regions Paul labored in, rooted in darkness and evil, designed to keep men in bondage and oppression to false idol gods.
And the word musterion, the word mystery, that our apostle is using here, refers to a secret that was known but only to the initiators. And when a man was initiated into those mystery religions, the secret of the religion was revealed to him. And that revelation, that secret, that thing know to them but unknown to the others, they called a musterion. It was something that was hid until it was revealed to certain people. Now that is the exact meaning of the word of Paul here in the third chapter of Ephesians. He uses the word musterion to refer to a great secret that was hidden in the counsels of God, and a secret that no man could learn by reason, by rational study, by scientific probing. It was a thing that no man could ever have known except were it revealed by God Himself. Now what is this great mystery that Paul refers to as having been kept in the secret counsels of God from the beginning of the creation? (Sept. 6th,2014, the rest will be continued in Part 2) (Reminds me of the teasers they do during the evening news!!)

A thought on Adam

When God made man and brought him into fellowship with Himself, everything was for the Lord. Adam and Eve had no other object in view for which to live and work, even among all the creatures in the Garden, then the Lord. It was the Lord and His two affectionate stars all glorously walking in the cool of the night. Wow! The Lord had great pleasure in that. And if you look throughout your bible you will see that the Lord has pleasure in, and draws near to, those who are in a state of worship.
What I mean to say is that the Lord's drawing near is on the grounds that those he is drawing near to have a heart that is out to himself.
You never find the Lord drawing near when it is otherwise, unless it be in judgment.  But when the Lord comes in blessing, in fellowship, companionship, it is because there are hearts out to Himself, and if the Lord came there into the garden, as He is shown to have done, it was because there were hearts toward Him. Loving Him, worshipping Him. When the Lord Jesus was here it was like that as well.  He loved to be where He found a heart open to Him, ready to receive Him, ready to answer to His desires.  I suppose that is why he went to Lazarus's house to visit so much.  He found that there where hearts there for Him, friendship and warmth.  There was a spirit of worship.
But then there came the terrible break, and the devil came into the garden to divert from God, to redirect to himself. But how, you may ask?-and this is a terrible thing to recognize. He brought man's own personal interests into view, man's own personal interests first, and showed him that he could have something-he could get something.  In other words Adam and Eve found that there was something in it for themselves. Up until we read where they took the fruit and ate, it was all the Lord could get, and now the situation is that man can have something for himself.
The enemy was working in a deep and subtle way to draw Adam away from God to himself; and so, getting man into alliance with himself; he deceived man into thinking that he was going to have the benefit, when all the time it was the devil who was going to have the benefit.  That is the deception of mankind. He was turned from God to get something, a good time, this world, great pleasure, fame, and all that, and in the end he finds he has been duped, and the devil has got it all-and him in the bargain. That is the tragedy and the deception.
But this is the point: It was in order to draw away from God by this self-interest, this selfishness- and break the worship, and the fellowship.  From that time it has been like that.  The world is a selfish world, a world that draws to itself, that does not give God His place, does not let God have everthing, first and last.  That is how things are, and we as Christians are to change that.

Thoughts on suffering

In Shakespeare's hamlet, Claudius a character in the play says, "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions."  This was certainly true of  Job's experience, one messenger after another came bringing him news of devastating loss.
Rapid-fire reports of devastating loss ripped into Job's heart.  Servants practically fell all over each other as they brought fresh reports of further disaster. 
In Job's era wealth was determined by the number of servants and the amount of property that you owned.  Both were weapons in the assault on Job's heart.  First, it was the loss of donkeys and oxen and then the death of servants, (1:14-15).  Soon after that came word that the "fire of God fell from heaven," consuming Job's sheep and some of his much loved servants (1:16).  Not long after this came the message that the Chaldean raiders had stolen the camels and killed even more of his loyal ranch hands(1:17).  With every announcement, the stakes rose as the losses were staggering. But the greatest losses came when the messenger arrived with the heart-wrenching news that Job's sons and daughters had been killed (1:18-19). 
When waves of heartache wash over us, whether single spies or whole battalions, their sheer weight and relentless nature can be suffocating.  Suffering simply overwhelms us.
Satan's final assault was on Job's health (2:1-8).  After that, Job sat in the dust scratching painful sores, bewildered by the turn his life had taken.  Job's wife and friends were with him, but in reality he was alone in his pain, alone but for the presence of his God.
The sense of isolation in seasons of suffering was given voice in the grief-stricken wail that left the lips of Christ on the cross: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?.....My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? I believe that would have been the cry of Job's heart, as he sat in the dust, suffering from his circumstances.
Over the thousands of years of human kind,, neither the nature nor the causes of suffering have changed. For some, suffering will never approach the horrors of Job's experience. For others, it may actually surpass them. But in every case, our suffering is uniquely our own and we feel the weight of that suffering because it is mysterious, overwhelming, and ultimately experienced alone.

A Little too Close

I was talking to a bus driver friend of mine who related to me about a tension-filled couple of minutes in Pittsburgh while he was driving his bus. He was telling how he was coming across the Roberto Clemente bridge, side by side with a big rig to his left. Coming to a traffic light there was an accident up ahead. This forced both the bus and the truck to slide over to the right to avoid oncoming traffic which was cheating by coming across the truck and bus lanes to also avoid the accident. Well the driver told me when he moved over to avoid either a close call or an accident the bus mirror hit the main post on the bridge and - "Bam!" the mirror was gone. The driver was telling me he couldn't understand how he could hit the mirror on the bridge in the first place so they went back to the scene to find that the bridge actually left little room for bus, truck or big rigs. The posts were too close to the road, thus the mirrors would hit the bridge.  The bridge beams had the markings to prove it was done regularly and often.
So what we had were responsible drivers caught in a bad situation because the bridge itself was not really built properly for todays vehicles.
I got to thinking how much life was similar to the close call for that bus.  How many times have we,  as human beings, come too close to something.  We're doing regular life, we're not up to something wrong or troublesome but then, "Bam!" a temptation, a sexual sin, a vulgar moment, a time when something bad is easy and is there right in front of us. But where did it come from, and what course of action would you take?  Would you go with it or deflect it? Would it be a close call where you just hit a mirror or would you have a full collision?
There are many factors and all of them are waiting for your response. How many near misses have we had in life when we were not doing anything wrong or looking for trouble, like the bus driver moving over just a little to avoid a potentially bad situation and "Bam!" he hits something that shouldn't be there. We are going about our careers, negotiating life in the corporate world, or daily punching the time clock and, "Bam!" there in front of us is a close encounter with an inter-office relationship, or a chance to embezzle some money or maybe an opportunity to fix someone's wagon who has hurt us on the job. That's when it hits us that we have come too close to a very bad human experience. It hit our mirror because we felt the encounter, we didn't  have a full blown collision but when we sit back and think about it, it was a really close call.

Ps 84:11-12; For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee. (KJV)

 

5 Steps to a Effective Christian Life

Every Christian is responsible to live a life that glorifies God (1 Cor10:31) and to be a true ambassador (2 Cor.5:20) for Him.  Most Christians want to be used of God.  For them it's not enough just to know they are on the Christian pathway, they want to be faithful and effective. The question is, "How"? Where do we start? What is involved?" We can find some answers in the Bible where God uses Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian official to get some insight on how to do this.
First, God SOVEREIGNLY worked out all the details involved in Philip's effective witness to the Ethiopian.  He will do the same for you and me.
Second, Philip's LIFE witnessed to Jesus Christ.  He was chosen as a worker in the early church because of his character (Acts 6:3-5). A good life not only glorifies God but is a powerful witness to the world.  Our lives should demonstrate that we know Him.
Third, we find the HOLY SPIRIT vitally involved in Philip's life and ministry. "The Spirit told Philip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it'"(Acts8:29) The Holy Spirit is the One who makes our lives attractive (Gal 5.22-23). He is our Teacher and Guide.  He gives us boldness and courage to witness.  Our responsibility is to be yielded fully to all the wonderful resources of the Holy Spirit. Philip was led to someone already "pre"pared.
Fourth, you will note the important part the SCRIPTURES play in telling another person about Jesus Christ. The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah 53 and asked Philip to explain the passage.  Philip took the same passage, which deals prophetically with the crucifixion, and "told him the good news about Jesus" (Acts8:35). Philip knew the Scriptures and was prepared to explain the good news of the Gospel.  If we are going to be effective Christians, we too must gain a working knowledge of the Scriptures to help others.
Last, the Bible is a record of God working mightily in and through the lives of ORDINARY people (just like us!)  Our responsibility is to step out in FAITH and trust God to use us.
This article is an exerpt from BGEA, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Christian Life and Witness course.

A Roman Confession

He had never seen a day like this. It was darker then any night he had ever experienced and it was just mid-afternoon.  Something different was taking place, something strangely ominous.  Whatever it was, he was sure it had nothing to do with him.  He was just doing his job, which was to execute people, serving Caesar with loyalty and without question. And Caesar had ordered this execution. His occupation was to execute outlaws in Palestine.  The breastplate that covered his heart bore the seal of his allegiance to the Emperor of Rome. He would gladly slice the throat of anyone who stood against the Emperor, for Caesar was like God to him.  There was honor in being a centurion, a mighty warrior in charge of 100 brave "fight till you die" soldiers trained to defend the Roman Empire. He knew how to make his heart like a stone as he watched foreign soldiers die by his hand.  It was his profession.
Today it seemed as if everyone was screaming.  The prisoners, the temple officials, even the centurion's own men were jeering at one of the criminals unmercifully.  An immense crowd had turned out to witness the execution of a man whose crime was written on the notice above His head. He was not a thief or a murderer but a "King of the Jews". This man was a Galilean and like no one the centurion had ever seen.  Stripped, whipped, bleeding, and with a crown of thorns gouging his skull, actually puncturing one eye, this Galilean didn't fight as the others. Neither did he mouth off and cuss as the others did, nor shout endless threats. Soldiers tried to steal his dignity but they couldn't. Even after they had cast lots for his cloak and had coated his dry tongue with vinegar, the Man wasn't condemning and he never pleaded for mercy.  Not once. That was unusual and noteworthy to him.
The prisoner was a Galilean man called Christ.
Something took place that tore at the soldiers stone-cold heart.  He was forgiving.  In all the years of executing prisoners and watching them die on these crosses, this Jesus was the only One who ever offered mercy to him, the killer. Now the centurion watched as the Galilean labored painfully for breath.  How he wanted to call out to accept that forgiveness.  But to call out would mean challenging Caesar.  To speak in favor of the King of the Jews would mark him as a traitor. To ask this prisoneer for life would mean his own death. Then, finally, the One being crucified cried out, "Father, into your hands I commit My spirit". And it was over.  He no longer labored.
 His Spirit's moment of release led to chaos as the earth began to quake and tombs burst open.  It was true.  Everything the centurion had heard about Jesus' preaching, healing, and miracles, was all true. Regardless of Caesar, regardless of the centurion's own fate, Jesus truly was the Messiah. In that moment, the centurion could utter only one confession. He couldn't hold it back. He couldn't quench that truth. He couldn't restrain himself. Suddenly, as though something inside of him wouldn't hold its silience any longer, he burst forth with little regard for self or safety, "Surely this was the Son of God'.  (Mark 15:39).
To be mighty in spirit is to recognize who Jesus really is.  That soldier did.  He viewed the criminals on crosses as you might look upon a convict on death row.  Yet when he saw Jesus, he knew something was different.  When he looked upon the Savior, neither his past nor his situation mattered.  He simply could not deny the truth.  The  testimony of that warrior was that he had seen the Savior.  He confessed that he had witnessed the Christ. Two thousand years later it is still possible to look upon Jesus the resurrected Son of God. 
I wonder......
What will your confession be?

For Future Generations

Gen 21:33-34
33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and he worshiped the LORD, the Eternal God, at that place. 34 And Abraham lived in Philistine country for a long time. (NLT)
I was reading my KJV on this verse and it says that  'Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba'. When I compared it to my NLT they said 'Abraham planted a tamarisk tree there in Beersheba'. Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear about trees being planted I think of oaks, maples, pear trees, and ornamental cherries, etc., but I've never heard of anybody planting a tamarisk tree. Its absence in other places only makes it more intriquing as to why he planted a 'tamarisk tree' here.
In Gen. 21:9-13, Abraham had a very difficult exchange of harsh words with his wife Sarah. She wanted Ishmael out of the way. This hurt Abraham because this was still his son.  Abraham was being forced to drive the two out of the community. Struggling w/ deep personal conflict because of this matter, God told him it was okay to send Hagar and Ishmael out. In doing this, God told Abraham that his descents would come from Isaac, the child born to Sarah, but that he would still honor the son born to Hagar and make a nation out of his descendents as well. By saying that, God guaranteed Hagar and Ishmael's safety and destiny, and that promise brought enough comfort to allow Abraham to release them.  In doing so, Abraham planted a grove of trees and those trees were tamarisk trees. But what is so significant about this tree? Why did he plant a tamarisk and not some other tree?
First, this tree is know for its long life, its very deep roots, its extremely hard wood, and being a great competitior among other plants. These trees have great staying power, are good for shade, can get water from very deep below the surface and they don't get crowded out by other species.They are hard because they take a lot of time to mature. A great tree for tomorrow but won't give you any kooling shade today!
But Abraham's clan was nomadic. You don’t plant a tamarisk for yourself because they grow too slow. And being nomadic, he and his family would hardly ever be around to use the shade from those trees. They grow to slow!
Dear one, Abraham wasn't thinking now, he planted it for future generations, not the present one. Abraham believed God's promise to him that there would be many people, many descendants to his extended family and that while there was plenty of space for him now, he began to live the vision God placed in him. He knew there would be many settling and making homes where there was now only sand and space. Abraham believed God so much that basically he was saying, I trust your word God, I am planting this tree for the many generations to come. My family is going to be living here. This shade is not for me but for the generations to come. I’ll never get to use it but they will.”

Now lets apply this perspective to us today. How much of what we do in life is done for just ourselves? Our comfort, our profit, our satisfaction? Do we do anything to bless or to plant a seed for the generations that are to come? Is there anything that you are currently involved in that will outlive you? Here's a thought...... do something this week that will benefit people long after you are gone.

Getting to the root!

In the King James Version, one of the names for Satan is Beelzebub (Mt. 12:24; Luke 11:18) – It means “Lord of the Flies” or “Lord of the Dung.” 

   A disgusting reference to waste and ultimately, a spiritual reference to moral degeneracy.

In other words, Satan, you are Lord of Manure!  That’s what you are king over! You are ’Lord of the Flies'.  Flies do not breed on waste - they are in the waste.......

When an animal is grazing, it eats the eggs on the grass or bushes, which then go through its system and don't get digested. Thus when the animal defecates, the eggs are right there.....in a perfectly controlled,

 temperature-friendly environment made naturally for hatching. Manure begins to work as soon as it is on the ground - and the temperature is warm  -  - great for hatching eggs.  It is a cycle that science fights to stop, but can’t. Therefore you get generation after generation of pests and infestation.

Defecate means, ‘to get rid of solid waste from your body’. That is what the devil is lord over, lord of manure, of flies.................pure evil, pure wrong, absent of any righteous....

In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus fought satan, ‘the lord of manure,’ or ‘the lord of flies,’ and for forty days the 'lord of flies' could not defile Jesus...he couldn’t dirty our Savior. After the conclusion of that battle when Jesus was hungry, worn out, and undefiled, satan continued to attack him through 3 final tests of which Jesus succeeded to stay pure, unsoiled and undefiled.

But what is significant about Jesus' battle with Satan, is the 40 days. That 40 days is important, because in agriculture when you have an infestation of flies...which carry loads of disease and sickness...in order to kill the flies when you spray, you have to do it for 40 consecutive days. All flies have a life cycle that is under or  equal to the 40 days, so if you spray one day you will only kill the hatched flies of that particular day. The unhatched eggs buried in the manure are going to hatch at a later date, and you better spray again if you want to kill them, or else you will have more flies...and more eggs. So, you have to spray and spray and spray for 40 consecutive days in order to totally stop the infestation..........

Jesus fasted and was tempted by the devil for 40 days. Each day that He didn’t sin, He destroyed a root (egg) of sin until He completely and thoroughly destroyed the sin infestation of satan........

Before Jesus went out into His ministry, He had to be sure that there was nothing behind Him.  He had to know that the devil had already been defeated because Christ had all power and authority over him. There could be no doubt. His position as Son of God, with all authourity over everything He had created in heaven and on earth, had to be confirmed. Satan could have no doubt when in a conflict with Jesus that he would not succeed in any wrestling matches that would surely arise.  Jesus destroyed Satan's unchallenged power right there in the wilderness - He took all authority right there. There were no more eggs, or roots of a sin from this point, on that Jesus hadn't destroyed......

Not only was Satan defeated out there in the wilderness during those 40 days, but Jesus showed satan that there were no more eggs or any roots to come up later when our Savior was preaching and teaching. When you get the root out, it is over, it is done. Jesus was saying, basically, that there was nothing behind Him... no root to sprout an unwelcomed influence, nothing of Satan  rising up and causing Him a problem to come back and haunt Him, or distract Him later when He was ministering to hurting people.

Using that, remember, during your 40 days of Lent, don't just ask God to help you stay off of chocolate, or give up TV, or stop cussing for 40 days. Instead, go for something deeper and more meaningful. Ask Jesus to remove a deep root to the cause of your stumbling.  Make Lent a season of spiritual victory. God love ya.

The Road to Calvary

For many of us Christians, Easter Sunday is the most significant day of the year!  Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, but Resurrection Sunday is about His victory.  Think about it, dear ones, of all the billions in the world, only one man, Jesus Christ of Nazereth, came back to life after His horrible death -  - and still lives. For me, my soul stirs as I remember Jesus' victory over sin, satan, hell and death.
For centuries, Christians have observed a forty-day period of preparation that ends just before Easter - called Lent. They use these very solemn days to focus on what our Lord Jesus taught and went through during His last days on earth.
This Sunday I will be teaching on what Jesus did and how it shapes Lent. We will also be passing out a beautifully printed booklet to be used for the next 40 days called: 'Journey to the Cross - 40 days of discovery'.  You will enjoy a short reading, reflection and a space for meaningful comments for every day of the Lenten period. It's a great way to add meaning to these days & a great time to worship the Lord.
The first day of this special period is called Ash Wednesday.  During Ash Wednesday services, worshipers come forward, and the pastor makes a mark in the shape of a cross on each person's forehead or wrist. Is that kool or what?  The dastardly devil has the no. 666 but we have so much more, we have the cross!
This cross that is placed on the forehead or wrist is made of ashes, usually from palm branches from the previous year.
It might seem gloomy to today's world, but I think it creates a powerful impression on us that reminds us that trouble, sickness, and death came into God's perfect creation because two human beings rebelled and wanted to do it their way. God could have abandoned us, but He didn't.  Instead, He came even closer to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who became a human being to rescue us.
Jesus paid a debt He didn't owe, because we owed a debt we could never pay. Now, we are free from the debt of sin! Sin has no more hold on us!  Because of Christ death, and resurrection we receive eternal life in heaven.  Those who don't know Jesus as Savior, have a destiny of hell and suffering eternally with Satan.
So Wednesday, Feburary 13th at 7pm come and receive the mark of a Christian - the mark of the cross! Bear it gladly-whether quietly on your wrist or boldly and visibly on your forehead, and if anyone asks about it, tell them: Jesus died and rose again for us!

Victory Celebration

This Sunday at, ‘T SUB’ we’re going to have a special Victory and Celebration service.  Many of us have been fasting for 21 days and are believing that there’s going to be a special anointing from God for this service.

 I know that many of you set apart some time in these twenty one days and you are asking God to do something in your life as well.
 

If you are fasting I want to encourage you today to continue your fast no matter how hard it has been. See it through and remember that ‘some things come only by prayer and fasting’. We are believing that when God’s holy servants lay hands on you Sunday, we will see some promised lands open up that never would have happened without this fast.

If you’re fasting, do not let your flesh, or the devil talk you out of what God has talked you into when you started your holy sacrifice. If you didn’t fast, that’s okay, God wants to move in your life just as much.

God allowed the children of Israel to see the Promised Land ahead of them days before they crossed over the Jordan River and I want to tell you that you are within days of your promised land and if you will stretch your faith you will see your victory coming to you. I believe for many of you, that this Sunday is going to be your day to cross over!

Hold the course, continue to pray with me and I’ll see you Sunday morning for the beginning of your breakthrough blessing.

Fasting for Repentance

We are now six days into our holy 21-day fast.  Those of us at "The SUB" have been denying ourselves many of the pleasures of life and abstaining from food for the purpose of having a deeper walk with God for twenty one days. When we fast, we are fasting because we are seeking a deeper experience with the Lord.  A nice definition of a fast is "to deny yourself food for a spiritual purpose".
 I am writing this article for some people who want to fast but who have major issues in their lives that will hinder the results of their fast. We cannot have a deeper experience with our Father if we are in deliberate sin or practice consistant lifestyle sins. I am not talking about doing wrong once in a while and I am not talking about an "oops" accidental sin. I am talking about walking the sin life everyday, living the sin everyday. An example of this would be adultery, homosexuality, womenizing, prostitution, larseny, murder, living together, thievery, a lying lifestyle, Galatians 5:19 stuff.....it is a sin that you are knowingly committing and are a willing participant in.  If you are in that type of sin then your fast will be a struggle to you because you truly want to have a deeper relationship with God, BUT sin separates you from that sweeter hug. Unfortunately, your perspective in your fast is that you have God's favor, but......you won't have it! You desperately need to fast alright, but you need it to break that strongman. That oppressing sin in your lifestyle will keep His favor from you. You must first have a deeper experience with God by getting Him to help you remove your offense and so remove the barriers that restrict His favor. And that is worth fasting for! I want to commend you for taking on your fast.
     I pray that in your fast God would give you the wisdom, courage and discernment to see that you are being harmed, that He would bring liberty to you, that the devil's hold on you would be broken, that He would give you the deliverance necessary to walk away from that sin and that He would restore you to a totally healthy Christian life as a free person with all of the LORD's blessings.
 It is never easy to change a lifestyle, especially if other people are involved in it with you, because they may have something to say or may lose benefits to themselves when you break away. Prostitution, adultery, drugs, immoral behavior, witchcraft, fortune telling, lying, are all good examples of that type of  bondage. Remember the girl in Ephesians (Acts16:16) who Paul set free from demons? The men who profitted from her were mad at him because they were going to lose the money they made off of her.
    In all of these types of situations you are fasting as a 'fast of repentance'. You want God to break the spell that has bewitched you and tormented you all these years. If you want out of it, a fast-with prayer- and the power of Jesus Christ will get you out of that bondage.
 One example of this 'lifestyle of sin' is the many deceived people who share their living quarters and their bodies with each other outside of marriage because they have "a better financial situation together" than living alone. This is still fornication or adultery and it is wrong according to God's Word. So for them to fast for a blessing would be a waste of time. You're not going to get God's blessing while you walk opposite of what He has already said in His Word.  What is worse is that you have become an enemy because you know it is wrong and forbidden, you are a hypocrite, or as the Bible describes a person like that, a 'wolf'', which makes you worse than an unbeliever doing it outside of God's covenant. You need to 'fast for repentance'  however. That process must take place so you can get God's favor.
Lets look at another situation. You may be in ka-hootz with someone who is stealing money from someone through some clever loophole in life and this easy money is filling your wallet on a regular basis.  Examples of this can be conspiracy to defraud through unemployment, social security checks for elderly parents, or welfare checks, food stamp fraud. Messing with the time clock at work is also in this category that we are using for an example. (Proverbs 11:1 says, "The LORD hates cheating, but He delights in honesty." (NLT) There are many others ways but they are all sins and you can't fast for God's blessing while these things are a part of your life...you won't get the blessing.  You may be deceived to think that you have gotten away with this and it is not hurting you and that life is good........but you need to know it is not God but satan that is making your life comfortable and you will definitely be caught. The Bible warns us of this with these powerful words 'be sure your sin will find you out, Num.32:23.'
   So to conclude: in your desire to get free, know that your fast, along with your troubled conscious, is God's plans to help free you, along with your prayers. Now go to a leader who has the Spirit of God in them, male or female, who can agree with you and has the visible, anointed power of God and get that person to anoint you and bring Jesus' peace into your life.... maybe for the first time in your life!