JESUS Said!

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 JESUS Said!

When JESUS said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” “Lay down your life for your friend.” “When someone slaps you on the cheek, turn to him your other cheek.” “When someone asks for your coat, give him your shirt also.” “When someone asks you to help them go a mile, help them go two miles.” “It is better to give than receive.” “Love your enemies.” “Do good to those who spitefully use you.” He was not talking about Christian or even religious behavior, He was talking about human nature! The nature that all people of every culture, of every time period should exhibit because we all are made in The Image of GOD! (Study the Gospels).

When JESUS said, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword!” He also said that our enemies would be our family and friends. That when we were persecuted in one city to flee to another. We see this in the ministry of Paul throughout Acts, not only Paul but Peter and Phillip also; led by HOLY SPIRIT they left or stayed in the places where they were accepted or persecuted (Study Acts and James 4:13-17).

When JESUS said “Lay down your life, take up your cross and follow Me.”  What was His cross? His cross was the sins of the world - past, present and future; the sin nature of humanity. “For GOD made JESUS Who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become The Righteousness of GOD in CHRIST.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (my paraphrase). So what is our cross? It is our sin! Paul was always conscious of his sin, that he persecuted JESUS by persecuting His Followers throughout Judea and was in the process of expanding his persecution when JESUS revealed Himself to him. He truly repented and never again persecuted those who believed in JESUS but he always strove to overcome his conscience by his obedience. “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.’” Luke 14:23 “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for GOD; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For The Love of CHRIST compels us, because we judge thus; that if One died for all, then all died.” 2 Corinthians 5:13-14 (Study 1 Peter 2:18-25).

Sin-Salvation-Eternity

 Sin - Salvation - Eternity!

Sin is anything that displeases GOD, since Adam all humans are born in sin and destined for eternal hell. Exodus 20:1-17; Romans 3:21-26; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22; Galatians 3:19-23.

Salvation is the gift of GOD that delivers any human who receives it from the judgment of eternal hell into the judgment of Eternal Heaven. Romans 6:22-23; 10:4-13.

Eternity is how long every human will live either in hell or Heaven. Matthew 19:29; Romans 6:1-14.

JESUS spoke about hell and about Heaven, Matthew 7:13-14; 10:27-31, 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-15.

JESUS spoke a lot about salvation, John 3:15-21; 10:1-13; 14:1-6; 15:1-17.

Might be does not equal Will be!

John 1:12-13; 3:5-17: “But as many as received Him, to then He gave the right to become Children of GOD, to those who believe in His Name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of GOD.” “JESUS answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and The SPIRIT, he cannot enter The Kingdom of GOD. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of SPIRIT is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you, “You must be born again.”...If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you Heavenly things? No one has ascended to Heaven but He Who came down from Heaven, that is, The Son of Man Who is in Heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must The Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have Eternal Life. For GOD so Loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have Everlasting Life. For GOD did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’”

Sin, salvation and eternity cause a lot of controversy in The Church and the world.

JESUS said that salvation is not automatic, we have to believe! So many say a prayer because they do not want to go to hell, many call out to GOD in their most desperate moment and many just come to an understanding that they are a sinner and only JESUS can forgive their sin and save them from hell. All of these are legitimate ways to give our life to GOD through JESUS CHRIST. Then JESUS tells us how to live in His Kingdom in the earth to maintain our salvation. Yes, I am saying there is no “Once saved always saved”. JESUS said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘LORD, LORD’ will enter into The Kingdom of Heaven. Many will say to Me in That Day, ‘LORD, LORD, have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your Name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on The Rock; and the rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on The Rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.’” Matthew 7:21-27 JESUS’ message is very clear, understand it how you want but JESUS was clear, some who do the works of The Kingdom of GOD are not born again, they are not GOD’s Child!

Paul the apostle emphasized this teaching in his letter to the Philippian Believers, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is GOD Who Works in you both to will and to do for His Good Pleasure. Do all things without disputing and complaining, that you may become blameless and innocent, Children of GOD without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast The Word of Life, so that I may rejoice in The Day of CHRIST that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” Philippians 2:12-16

James the apostle also emphasized this teaching in his letter to The Church, “So then my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the Righteousness of GOD. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and abundance of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of The Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”..”What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked or destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is One GOD. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is useless?” James 1:19-22, 2:14-20

JESUS said, “Pray therefore in this manner; ‘Our Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name, Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done in the earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily provision and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Yours is The Kingdom, and The Power, and The Glory forever. Amen.” “But you seek The Kingdom of GOD and His Righteousness above everything else and all your needs will be met! Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself. There are sufficient problems each day.” Matthew 6:9-13; 33-34 (my version).

Salvation is available to all who believe in JESUS as The Son of GOD, crucified and risen from the dead, seated at the right hand of GOD ruling over The Church-His Body in the earth. But JESUS did not save us from hell, that is a side benefit, JESUS saved us to do the Work of His Kingdom in the earth as it is in Heaven. He commissioned us to preach The Gospel, lay hands on the sick so they recover, cast out demons and make disciples to Him so that the nations are discipled into His Kingdom. Mark 16:14-18.

Salvation is not a rescue it is a calling! If you struggle with this teaching it may be that you do not read The Bible for yourself. You should read The Bible everyday then you will begin to understand what GOD’s Will is and His Purpose for you.

Love And Unity

 Love and Unity

“Behold! How Good and how Pleasant it is for the Brethren to dwell together in Unity. It is like precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon Aaron’s beard. That ran down to the skirts of his garments. As the dew of Herman that descended upon the Mountain Zion; for it was there that The LORD Commanded His Blessing, even Life forevermore.” Psalm 133

“I give you a new Commandment, that you Love one another. Just as I have Loved you, so also you must Love one another. By this all will know that you are My Disciples, if you have Love one for another.” John 13:24-25

 “Now this is His Commandment – that we should believe in The Name of YESHUA The Messiah, and Love one another just as He Commanded us. The one who keeps His Commandments abides in GOD and GOD in him. We know that He abides in us by this – by The SPIRIT He has given us.” 1 John 3:23-24

“If anyone says, ‘I Love GOD,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not Love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot Love GOD, whom he has not seen. And this Commandment we have from Him: that the one who Loves GOD should also Love his brother.” 1 John 4:20-21

GOD asks His Church, “Why do you not keep My Commandments?” If there is no Love there is no Unity and if there is no Unity there is no Life Eternal! The Scriptures above say that if you don’t Love your brothers you do not Love GOD and if you do not Love GOD you do not abide in Him nor He in you and if GOD does not abide in you then you do not have Life Eternal! No Love, no Unity, no Eternity with GOD!

I did a google search of Churches within 5 miles of my home, there were 19 and I was surprised. I have seen several as I drive around, but I did not know there were that many. All of them were less than 1.5 miles from my home. I do not have any relationship with any of them, nor do I know anyone who goes to any of them. I do have relationship with 3 local Churches that are outside the 5 mile search area. I know a couple of my neighbors who are Christian but I do not know where they go to Church if they do go, one of them Tele-Churches.

I have visited a couple of other Churches in my general area, one of them is within the 5 mile radius, I know that there are groups of Pastors that get together for prayer and fellowship; but I am not aware of Churches getting together or exchanging Pastors occasionally, or doing any other fellowship or ministry together. This is one of the sins of the Church today, our lack of unity and brotherly Love as seen by our lack of involvement and activity together.

To seek GOD first we have to have unity, we (the Church) are The Body of CHRIST; Paul, Peter, James and John all teach on the unity of the Body of CHRIST so how can it not be a part of our doctrine and practice? To seek GOD first we must fast and pray, study and teach, praise and worship, fellowship and minister. All of these activities that we are called to do we are called to do them as individuals, families, fellowships, ministries, churches and denominations. We are not called to evangelize people to ourself or our group, we are called to evangelize people to JESUS! We are not called to disciple people to ourself or our denomination, we are called to disciple people to JESUS!

Today’s Church in America is in the Build Bigger Ministry because we think we are the Best or for greed and pride, either way it is sin! Mega churches are not wrong but they tend to cause isolation rather than fellowship with other smaller churches. Having multiple campuses, all but the main location watching via video is no better, except maybe in parking lot access.

Not all Churches, ministries and denominations are isolationists. In San Diego County where I lived for 43 years there has been a unity of churches and ministries movement since the 80’s. There are several groups of pastors, churches and ministries around the County that fellowship and minister together regularly. They organize Church wide events and city or county wide evangelization events throughout the county, state, and into Mexico. Some of the pastors have international ministries and they invite others to go with them. In 1991 I went with a group from our church that joined a group from a larger church to Russia, where we ministered in two different cities. I am sure there are other groups like this all around the country.

The point of all this is to call us all to  personal accountability before GOD! When we have personal accountability we can have ministry accountability. When we have ministry accountability then we can have unity. It is not about how big we can be, it is about how effectively we are ministering the Gospel in our community and discipling people to JESUS.

Every Christian is Called to be an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor and a teacher; these are the functions of a discipler.

Seek GOD First! Seek Him while He may be found!

Be Of Good Cheer

 “Be Of Good Cheer!”

“So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came into His Own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When JESUS saw their Faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of Good Cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’...But that you may know that The Son of Man has Power on earth to Forgive sins’-then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ And he arose and departed to his house.” Matthew 9:1-2, 6-7 (Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26).

“Immediately JESUS made His disciples get into  the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to Pray. Now when evening came He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night JESUS went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out for Fear. But immediately JESUS spoke to them, saying ‘Be of Good Cheer! It is I; do not be afraid!’ And Peter answered Him and said, ‘’LORD if it is You, Command me to come to You on the water.’ So He said, ‘Come.’ and when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to JESUS.” Matthew 14:22-29 (Mark 6:45-51; John 6:15-21).

“JESUS answered them, ‘Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because The Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have Peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of Good Cheer, I have overcome the world.’” John 16:31-33

“But the following night The LORD stood by Him and said, ‘Be of Good Cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.’” Acts 23:11

Be of Good Cheer is translated Take Courage in The Tree of Life Version (TLV) for all five Scriptures and in the Cross Reference of the NKJV for Matthew 14:27, Mark 6:50, and Acts 23:11.

Others who said “be of good cheer”

Paul: Acts 27:22, 25, 36 in the JKV it says “And now I exhort you to be of Good Cheer…Wherefore, sirs be of Good Cheer…Then they were all of Good Cheer…”. In the NKJV and TLV it says “And now I urge you to take heart…,Therefore take heart men…Then they were all encouraged…”

Cheer (Strongs 2293) Matthew 9:2, 14:27; Mark 6:50; John 16:33; Acts 23:11 = tharsĕō: from 2294; to have courage:-be of good cheer (comfort). Comp. 2292.

Cheer (Strongs 2114) Acts 27:22, 25, 36 = ĕuthumĕō: from 2115; to cheer up, i.e. (Intrans.) be cheerful; neut. Comp. (adv.) more cheerfully;-be of good cheer (merry).

Matthew 9:1-8 is the same event as Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26, in Mark JESUS  says, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (Mark 2:5). In Luke, JESUS said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” (Luke 5:20) in the KJV, NKJV and TLV.

Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 6:45-51 are the same event in JESUS’ ministry, so is John 6:15-21 but in this telling JESUS says, “It is I; do not be afraid.” John 6:20 KJV, NKJV and in TLV He says, “I Am. Don’t be afraid.”

John 16:25-33, Acts 23 and 27 are singular events and not recounted anywhere else.

So What Does This Mean?

“Be of Good Cheer…take Heart…have Courage…don’t be Afraid!”, these all challenge us to Trust in GOD during our crisis. Every time JESUS said it there was a trial in someone’s life or just ahead in their life, His command was to not be overcome by the tribulation but to understand that GOD was in control, and as Paul taught, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ JESUS, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to The SPIRIT…And we know that all things work together for the Good to those who Love GOD, to those who are the Called according to His Purpose.” Romans 8:1, 28 (Study the whole chapter).

If we seek GOD first and His Righteousness, if our Trust is in the completed Work of JESUS, our Savior and LORD, then we should have confidence that no matter what is happening GOD is working out His Will for our life!

As a side note: don’t let the differences in the testimonies of the writers of the Gospels bother you. Each one was led by The HOLY SPIRIT to tell the life story of JESUS and yet each one had the ability to tell the story in his own words with his own emphasis. This is common in the recounting of any event by different people who were present during the event, especially after several years. It does not detract from the Truth and Validity of each one’s account nor from the revelation of Who GOD is and what He has done.

The Bible has been written by over forty different men over a couple of thousand years and not all accounts are eyewitness accounts. The Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages and copied by thousands of people and yet it still tells the same revelation of Who GOD is and what He has done. Paul taught, “All Scripture is given by Inspiration of GOD, and is Profitable for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Correction, for Instruction in Righteousness, that the man of GOD may be Complete, Thoroughly Equipped for every Good Work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Peter taught, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made know to you the Power and coming of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty…And so we have the Prophetic Word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a Light that Shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and The Morning Star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no Prophesy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for Prophesy never came by the will of man, but holy men of GOD spoke as they were moved by The HOLY SPIRIT.” 2 Peter 1:16, 19-21.