4/29/2017

HE+ Opened Their Understanding ...

Resurrection Season

Day 14

of the 40 Days

The LORD JESUS CHRIST

spent with His+ Disciples,

in His+ Glorified Body,

AFTER HIS+ RESURRECTION !

+ + +

Knowing that CHRIST

being raised from the dead dieth no more;

Death hath no more dominion over HIM+.

Romans 6: 9

+ + +

And as they [ the men from Emmaus ] thus spake, JESUS HIMSELF+ stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them,

Peace be unto you.

But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And HE+ said unto them,

Why are ye troubled?

and why do thoughts arise

in your hearts?

Behold My+ hands and My+ feet,

that it is I+ Myself+:

handle ME+, and see;

for a spirit hath not flesh and bones,

as ye see ME+ have.

And when HE+ had thus spoken, HE+ shewed them His+ hands and His+ feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, HE+ said unto them,

Have ye here any meat?

And they gave HIM+ a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And HE+ took it, and did eat before them. And HE+ said unto them,

These are the words

which I+ spake unto you,

while I+ was yet with you,

that all things must be fulfilled,

which were written in the Law of Moses,

and in the Prophets,

and in the Psalms,

concerning ME+.

Then opened HE+ their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures,

Luke 24: 36-45

+ + +

They did NOT RECEIVE the Testimony...

The LORD JESUS appeared in His+ glorified Body to the Company of His+ Disciples.

Although Followers of JESUS, these men --- every one of them His+ disciples --- were not with Peter nor with the Women of the Company nor with the men walking to Emmaus and thus, they had missed seeing the Resurrected LORD JESUS.

The Company of His+ Followers did not believe ANY reports of their fellow Followers ! They did not believe that The LORD JESUS CHRIST was risen from the dead !

They did Not Receive their Witness.

They had watched HIM+ die, themselves being scared to death. They were gathered together in Jerusalem somewhere, when SUDDENLY HE+ APPEARED among them.

Unlike a spirit, HE+ spoke to them and His+ words were very familiar:

" Peace unto you !" HE+ said.

Did that bring them "peace" ?

NO... because they did not receive His+ Words . They were terrified and frightened. They thought they had SEEN a SPIRIT !

So, HE+ told them to observe His+ hands and His+ feet ... undoubtedly as a means to identify HIMSELF+, that it was indeed HE+ HIMSELF+ , to these terrified disciples who had watched HIM+ die.

HE+ invited them to touch HIM+ in His+ Glorified Body .

HE+ even gave them a rational, concrete explanation: "... for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see ME+ have."

Then HE+ showed them His+ hands and His+ feet.

YET they BELIEVED NOT for joy, and wondered !

Then, HE+ ate before them. Undoubtedly, every eye was trained upon His+ biting, chewing, and swallowing!

As they opened their hearts

in Belief

to RECEIVE the TRUTH

of what they perceived

through their senses,

HE+ opened their understanding

that they might understand

The Scriptures.

ALL things written of HIM+ in the Prophets and the Law of Moses and the Psalms concerning HIMSELF+ had to be fulfilled , HE+ explained to them.

+ + +

O, LORD CHRIST, The First-Born from the Dead,

help me to remember that my heart must be open to the Truth before I can understand it with my mind.

Help me to minister Thy Word+ to others in a way that their hearts are pierced. Then I will know that YOU+, O LORD, will open their understanding of it.

Keep me from teaching to the mind when I ought to be reaching the heart .

O LORD JESUS, Master of men's hearts, show me how to so bring my life in line with Thy+ Truth... that without a word spoken, others will see YOU+ , standing among them.

Blessing and Honor, Glory and Power be unto The LAMB+ forever and ever ! Amen.

+ + +

4/27/2017

HE+ Opened Their EYES ...

Resurrection Season

Day 12

of the 40 Days The LORD JESUS CHRIST

spent with His+ Disciples,

in His+ Glorified Body,

AFTER HIS+ RESURRECTION !

+ + +

Knowing that CHRIST

being raised from the dead dieth no more;

Death hath no more dominion over HIM+.

Romans 6: 9

+ + +

How

Did HE+ Open Their Eyes ?

And it came to pass,

as HE+ sat at meat with them,

HE+ took bread, and blessed it,

and brake, and gave to them.

And their eyes were opened,

and they knew HIM+ !

and HE+ vanished

out of their sight.

Luke 24: 30-31,

The men of the Company of JESUS, walking to Emmaus

Let us notice what JESUS did to open their spiritual eyes.

HE+ sat with them.
HE+ took Bread.
HE+ blessed it.
HE+ brake it.
HE+ gave it to them.

HE+ instituted the Bread and Wine as His+ Body and Blood during the Last Passover meal HE+ kept with His+ Disciples.

That unleavened Bread was His+ Body, broken for us.

And when HE+ had given thanks,

HE+ brake it, and said,

Take, eat: this is My+ Body,

Which is broken for you:

this do in remembrance of ME+.

I Corinthians 11:24

How do WE

open the spiritual eyes

of those around us ?

We must do the same thing for others

which Our LORD did for us.

We must be with them ... in some way, making some kind of contact with them.

We take BREAD with us... that is , the Body of our LORD JESUS. This is not BREAD from wheat, but HE+ that lives within us, goes along with us in our contact.

HE+ is THE Bread+ of Life

and HIM+ we take with us to share.

We ask HIM+ to bless --- to sanctify and multiply --- this, His+ Bread of Life, that accompanies us wherever we go... and with whomever we are around.

We break this Bread+ that lives within us.

How ?
We go the second mile, we take the lowest seat, we turn the other cheek, we render good for evil. We share the Truth in love. ( Love is not "love" without Truth .) In short, we pick up our Cross also, and die daily.

And in so doing, we GIVE others the Bread+ of Life, the broken Body of our CHRIST.

+ + +

In any situation, people will give Followers of JESUS their attention WHEN they see them turn the other cheek, WHEN they see them go the second mile, WHEN they actually witness someone returning good for evil. The witness of the Broken Bread+, the Broken Body of CHRIST , goes forth.

That kind of witness speaks

LOUDER THAN WORDS.

For some, it will draw them to HIM+. For others, it will cause them to ponder why someone turned the other cheek when he did not have to.

That may chase some people away, but it will bother them in one way or another the rest of their life; they will not forget it because it is incomprehensible to them.

But the natural man receiveth not the things

of the SPIRIT of GOD:

for they are foolishness unto him:

neither can he know them,

because they are spiritually discerned.

I Corinthians 2:14

+ + +

We "open" the spiritual eyes of others when we WALK like JESUS walked, laying down His+ rights, His+ Life , for the unrighteous ... such as we were and sometimes still are.

He that saith he abideth in HIM+

ought himself also so to walk,

even as HE+ walked.

1 John 2:6,

Courtesy of Bible Gateway.com

When we lay down our “rights”, when we refuse to retaliate in order to obey JESUS, and follow His+ example, the Witness for HIM+ goes forth.

It is the LOUDEST witness we can give. It is also the SUREST witness we can give; there is no doctrine that can refute it.

There is no confusion about Whom+ we follow... when we do that. Others know immediately that we are NOT of the world.

Immediately, their eyes are opened to this one Truth: There is something DIFFERENT about us.

WHAT is it that makes us different ?

It is Who+ we follow.

Then JESUS said unto them,

Verily, verily, I+ say unto you,

Moses gave you not that bread from Heaven;

but My+ FATHER giveth you

the true Bread from Heaven.

For the BREAD+ of GOD is HE+

which cometh down from Heaven,

and giveth life unto the world.

Then said they unto HIM+, LORD,

evermore give us this bread.

And JESUS said unto them,

I+ am

the BREAD+ of Life:

HE+ that cometh to ME+

shall never hunger;

and HE+ that believeth on ME+

shall never thirst.

John 6: 32-35

Scriptures courtesy of Bible Gateway.com

+ + +

4/24/2017

Their EYES Were HOLDEN ...

Day 9

of the 40 Days

of the Resurrection Season

when The RISEN LORD JESUS CHRIST

appeared to His+ Company of believers

in His+ Risen, Glorified Body

which could never die again.

Their Eyes Were Holden ...

The men walking to Emmaus had a problem: their eyes were holden and they could not recognize The RISEN LORD JESUS.

But their eyes were holden

that they should not know him.

Luke 24:16

The men, one named Cleopas, were of the Company who followed JESUS and who were with the band of disciples gathered together the First Day of the week. They were present when the women reported that they had seen an Angel who told them HE+ had risen from the dead and was ALIVE !

HE+ is not here, but is risen:

remember how HE+ spake unto you

when HE+ was yet in Galilee,

Saying,

The SON+ of Man must be delivered

into the hands of sinful men,

and be crucified,

and the third day rise again.

And they remembered His+ words,

And returned from the sepulchre,

and told all these things unto the eleven,

and to all the rest.

It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna,

and Mary the mother of James,

and other women that were with them,

which told these things unto the apostles.

And their words seemed to them

as idle tales,

and they believed them not.

Luke 24: 6-11

The two men were present when Peter ran to the tomb and found it empty and reported back to the Company of believers.

Then arose Peter,

and ran unto the sepulchre;

and stooping down,

he beheld the linen clothes

laid by themselves,

and departed,

wondering in himself

at that which was come to pass.

Luke 24:12

Then, these two followers of JESUS embarked on a journey to Emmaus, a village about 7 miles away. As they walked, The RISEN CHRIST drew near and joined Himself+ to them ... but they did not recognize HIM+ !

It was fully day, for the women and Peter had come and gone from the sepulchre and reported back to the Company about their findings ... likely, with a storm of discussion... which would have given time for the sun to rise.

As the men walked in daylight with the unrecognized but RISEN LORD, HE+ asked them what manner of things were they discussing as they walked, being sad ?

After Cleopas exclaimed his surprise that this "stranger" was unaware of what had happened at the Passover, the two men expounded to HIM+ the events of the Crucifixion plus the reports of the Empty Tomb. It was the third day since all these terrible things happened.

The surprising response of this "stranger" to their explanations was:

O fools,

and slow of heart to believe all

that the prophets have spoken:

Ought not CHRIST

to have suffered these things,

and to enter into His+ glory?

Luke 24:25-26

Then HE+ expounded to them the Scriptures from Moses and all the prophets concerning the CHRIST, Himself+.

However, their eyes were still holden ... and they yet did NOT recognize The RISEN LORD being with them and talking to them.

Do we recognize HIM+ when HE+ is among us today...

or are our eyes so fixated

on knowing ABOUT HIM+

that we do not discern

His+ Presence ?

Are our eyes so fixed on the things of this world...

that we cannot discern His+ Voice

from other voices...

especially the voice

of our own troubles

and concerns ?

When The RISEN LORD **called these two serious-minded and sad believers "FOOLS !" , it was a stern rebuke, one of the hardest rebukes HE+ spoke in the New Testament.**

Un-belief ,

even when in grief, sadness, and confusion,

earned these two believers

HIS+ stern rebuke

for their stubbornness.

+ + +

We do not know WHY they refused to believe the report that HE+ had risen from the dead and was ALIVE and had indeed appeared to the women, whom they all scoffed at. We can only surmise that they were still in shock and heart-broken.

That was no excuse,

according to

The LORD'S up-braiding !

Yet, in His+ great mercy and kindness, The RISEN CHRIST JESUS opened their eyes at the Breaking of Bread, His+ Body.

What "eyes" ?

HE+ opened the eyes

of their hearts

so they could "see"

with their spirit

WHO+ HE+ was,

The LIVING LORD JESUS CHRIST,

standing there among them

... all that time.

+ + +

DEAR LORD JESUS,

Open my eyes that I may see YOU+ instead of the things that crowd YOU+ out of my vision.

Open my eyes that I may see YOU+ instead of my troubles and concerns that loom so large.

Help me to stop focusing upon this temporary world and its crushing and certain evil and rather, let me see YOUR+ hand fulfilling prophecy for YOUR+ soon return.