Passover Meditation #25 for the Lenten Season 2012 ( #24 repeated )

~ ~ ~ The Door of the Cross ~ ~ ~

I+

I+ AM

The Resurrection

and

The LIFE:

he that believeth

in ME+,

though he were dead,

yet shall he live.

John 11:25 Green's Greek Interlinear

How could those already dead believe in JESUS the CHRIST ?

Some, we know, did: Simeon the devout man awaiting the Consolation+ of Israel and Anna the prophetess of great age, who were both present in the Temple at His+ Dedication, John the Baptist, Joseph, the guardian ( Gowra, Aramaic) and husband of Mary. Perhaps Lazarus also, Mary and Martha's brother, believed in HIM+ since his sisters evidenced a strong belief in HIM+ as MESSIAH+. These all died knowing HIM+ ...but before Our LORD'S own death and resurrection.

Here, as recorded in John 11:25, Our LORD is looking ahead at what happened in those 3 days and 3 nights HE+ spent in the heart of the earth. (Mt. 12:40)

Well, what DID happen down there?

Sheol, the Old Testament word for "hell," was divided into 2 parts in the heart of the earth. One part was for the unrighteous ones who died in their sins. The other part was called "Abraham's Bosom" (See Luke 16:22).

[ Now, just a note on Abraham's Bosom. In the Old Testament, the bosom was configured as a CAVITY, a carrying-place. It was where one held to his chest things of value. Womenfolk would carry food and other precious items in their aprons, wrapping up the corners of their aprons around the items like a sack and carry the load CLOSE TO THEIR BOSOM. Thus, "Abraham's Bosom" in the heart of the earth was a CAVITY in the earth, filled with precious souls who had died in RIGHT standing with GOD.]

Our LORD spent 3 days and 3 nights down there, in the heart of the earth PREACHING to the DEAD who had died long before JESUS Our LORD was sent to the earth.

How do we know this?

Scripture tells us this

in 1 Peter 3:18, 19:

For CHRIST also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that HE+ might bring us to GOD, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but made alive in the SPIRIT; In which also HE+ went and preached unto the spirits in prison.

This Scripture tells us that JESUS Our LORD died a natural death in the flesh. When HE+ died, HE+ left His+ physical Body on the cross to be buried.

Now, we know The LORD JESUS never went into a jail, a prison, to preach. HE+ preached in many places, but never in an actual civil prison run by the Roman government, who had the authority over the prisons in Israel.

But rather, HE+ HIMSELF+ went in His+ SPIRIT into the heart of the earth... to preach to the dead !

Now THIS tells us some interesting facts:

   • "Death" was a prison from which no-one EVER left

    • it was located in the heart of the earth

   • the dead are simply gone unto ANOTHER PLACE ( either pleasant or bad)

   • the dead are not obliterated even though their bodies of clay are buried in the ground as "lifeless"

   • nor is their consciousness erased

   • nor have their emotions ceased

   • nor is their intellect diminished

Some OTHER Truths of GREAT interest are here also:

     • JESUS was intensely ALIVE the instant HE+ closed His+ eyes in death. We know this because HE+ had said... "It is accomplished, FATHER; into Thy HANDS I+ commit My+ SPIRIT."

     • HE+ left His+ dead, physical Body for 3 days and 3 nights

     • HE+ descended into the heart of the earth, into Sheol ( hell )

     • HE+ was not punished in hell but entered as a VICTORIOUS SAVIOR sent by The FATHER

     • HE+ asked no-one's permission to ENTER into the realm of the dead

    • HE+ asked no-one's permission to LEAVE the realm of the dead...

     • HE+ was busy for 3 days and 3 nights, as The FATHER sent HIM+ down there to preach.

Well, what did HE+ preach to this captive audience who could NOT leave the realm of the Dead ?

HE+ preached

the Good News !

I Peter 4:6 continues from the above Scriptures cited:

For unto this cause ALSO THE GOSPEL WAS PREACHED TO THE DEAD that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but MIGHT LIVE according to GOD in the SPIRIT. Green's Greek Interlinear

 

O Great REDEEMER+, O THOU+ Who+ had and still has the keys of Death and Hell, I thank THEE+ for dying on that mean Cross in order to break down the gates of Sheol, Hades, and hell in order to bring Life to those who had not the chance to hear the GOOD NEWS before they died.

Forgive me for forsaking the task of sharing this GOOD NEWS of victory over death with others.

Please forgive me of burying this "talent" entrusted unto me and keeping the GOOD NEWS locked up within my smug heart.

Forgive me for fleeing from my responsibility before GOD and man.

Cleanse me of the sin of Self-Preservation and help me instead to labor to Preserve those heading into Eternal Torments in hell and from thence, into the Second Death in the Lake of Burning Fire.

Help me , LORD JESUS, to proclaim this Victory over death, hell, and the grave to the Un-saved, the Lost, the Un-Redeemed amongst my family, friends, acquaintances, and even to strangers.

Passover Meditation #23 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~ The Door of the Cross ~ ~ ~

Peter said:

And we,

we have believed

and have known that YOU+ are The CHRIST The SON+ of The Living GOD.

John 6:69 Green's Greek Interlinear

And Martha said:

Yea, LORD: I, I believe that

YOU+ are the CHRIST

The SON+ of GOD

which should come

into the world.

John 11:27 Green's Greek Interlinear

And JESUS said:

Truly, truly

I+ say to you,

the one

who hears MY+ Word

and believing

the ONE having sent ME+,

has Everlasting LIFE,

.

and does

not come into judgment,

. 

but has

passed out of death

into LIFE.

John 5:24 Green's Greek Interlinear

We believe The FATHER has sent HIS SON+, JESUS the CHRIST, into the world to give LIFE unto "whosoever will come" to HIM+.

.

We come on His+ terms with a Godly sorrow that:

• leads unto  repentance 
• which leads unto conversion
• through to the sanctified waters of Holy Baptism
• that leads unto our New Birth from above into CHRIST... making us New Creatures in CHRIST.  

Henceforth, we live unto CHRIST and die unto Self, through the means of our cross and through the Power of His+ Cross. 

To those who come on His+ terms, this entity called LIFE totally changes. Not only do we become New but all of LIFE becomes new to us.

We learn to do all sorts of new things:

• love others because HE+ first loved us,
• associate with the Lowly because HE+ associated with us,
• hate evil that we see in ourselves, instead of hating our neighbor.

And when we do these things,which is our part to do, the promise of GOD is this:

• We pass out of JUDGMENT and into Eternal LIFE, like the greatest insurance policy ever written because it is SURE and CERTAIN to occur. 

The vital point, though, is this: GOD knows when we believe unto obedience of heart instead of with our mind only... or because our culture makes us "christian...." or because our church or community membership makes us "christian..." 

No mind only, no culture only, no church only , and no community only constitutes faith in His+ eyes.

HE+ wants your heart.

. 

HE+ will not accept a substitute.

HE+ will allow you to experience everlasting death if you don't offer HIM+ the real thing: your total heart. 

HE+ will not accept a substitute, a decoy, a hollow commitment, a phony , a part of your life; HE+ wants it all... just like HE+ gives all of His+ heart to you. 

And if you try to deceive yourself, pretending you have given HIM+ all of  your heart,  you will receive your part in the Lake of Burning Fire and the Second Death with the devil, the false prophet, the beast, the fallen angels... and all those who love and make a lie, those who reject His+ Lordship over their lives. You cannot deceive HIM+.  

 

...HE+ 

will  not accept

a substitute

for your heart.

Passover Meditation #22 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~  The Door of the Cross ~  ~  ~

Then Simon Peter answered HIM+,

LORD,

to whom

shall we go?

THOU+

hast the words

of Eternal Life.

John 6:68

To Whom do we  go ?

We go to jobs, vocations, careers.  We go to schooling, education, classes, in-services, seminars, conferences, and training.

We go to the bank. ( That's why we go to schooling, careers, etc. ) We go to the store. ( ditto ). 

We go to reunions, parties, get-togethers, festivities, and many, many activities.   Sometimes we even go to church. 

Then, we go to the doctor, the dentist, the therapist, and oftentimes the masseuse. 

We go and go and go,

don't we ? 

To whom do we go ?

One thing is necessary: and Mary has chosen that GOOD part which shall not be taken away from her, Our LORD JESUS said.

What part ?

She sat at JESUS' feet because HE+ was her LORD.

She sat at JESUS' feet because HE+ filled her heart.

She sat at JESUS' feet because HE+ was her Life's breath and she

could not go on 

without being near to HIM+... constantly.

To whom do we go ?

  



Passover Meditation #21 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~  The Door of the Cross ~  ~  ~

Then said JESUS

unto the twelve,

"Will you,

you also 

go away?"

John 6:67 Green's Greek Interlinear

The LORD'S sorrow was real. HE+ knew the hearts of men. HE+ knew their frame, their weaknesses. HE+ knew their vacillating wills...

HE+ still knows.

HE+ knew how easily they were swayed by their own thoughts and feelings, easily influenced by those around them.

HE+ still knows.

HE+ also knew exactly how abhorrent it would seem to the Jews to think of eating human flesh and drinking human blood. 

HE+ still knows how abhorrent dying to our Self is, how we don't want to join HIM+ in picking up our cross,  how we want HIM+ to do His+ part... and our part too!

Yet, Our LORD persisted in making the path harder, the door higher, the way more narrow for those coming to HIM+ for Eternal Life.

Will you also go away?

Countless others have.

Countless others have, from those who walked with HIM+ in person along with the twelve 2,000 years ago... much to their un-ending sorrow and constant bitterness now... to those who are playing fast and loose with HIM+ today, thinking they can repent fast on their death bed...  if they have a death bed, that is.

Will

you also

go

AWAY

?

Away... to count JESUS a stranger rather than friend... to count JESUS as someone to ignore, to take or leave until a more convenient time.

NOW is the day of Salvation,

while it is called TODAY.

Tomorrow is not promised
for anyone...
neither is a tidy,
orderly death bed.
( Sudden accidents happen daily.) 

Harden not your hearts

as in the day of provocation. 

.

O LORD GOD, Who+ knows our weaknesses and our frame, look upon this Thy+ servant. I bring my Self, kicking and screaming, unto THEE+.

Dear JESUS, I don't want to be a stranger to you anymore. Help THOU+ my unbelief and rebuke the hindering spirit keeping me from THEE+. 

I will to close the gap , O Great REDEEMER+, because THOU+ hast promised to receive sinners and backsliders ... if they repent. I'm sorry I've hurt THEE+, dear JESUS.  

O LAMB+ of GOD I come... I come.

Passover Meditation #20 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~  The Door of the Cross ~  ~  ~

From that time

many of His+ disciples went away

into the things behind

and no longer walked

with HIM+.

John 6:66

Green's Greek Interlinear

Look at that chapter and verse number: 6:66.  Does that strike fear into your heart? Look what some who loved HIM+, who ate His+ Bread and Wine, who were trained by HIM+ did:  they returned back to the things they once left behind for His+ sake. 

When they returned to the world .... the things and ways  they had once forsaken for CHRIST JESUS... then they no longer walked with CHRIST, the SON+ of the Living FATHER.

They no longer walked with The FATHER, who is  only  known by man through CHRIST, HIS Eternal SON+ and WORD+ .  

So, who DID

they walk with ?  

6  6  6

O GOD, WHO knows the end from the beginning, help me to be faithful. Help me never to return to my old way of life, like a dog to its vomit. 

Help me never to turn back to the world so that I "feel good" about myself... for a few short-lived points in time. 

I do love THEE+. I do not want to follow the devil nor 6 6 6, the number of man. 

I do NOT want to hear,

" Depart from ME+,

ye workers of iniquity; 

I+ never knew you."  

Have mercy on me, LORD JESUS. Help THOU+ my unbelief . Turn away from me the awful spirit of discouragement and strengthen my faith. This I ask as a needy, humble child, O GREAT REDEEMER +.

LORD, have mercy upon us.

CHRIST, have mercy upon us.

LORD, have mercy upon us...

And let not the enemy exact upon us.

Passover Meditation #19 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~ The Door of The Cross ~  ~  ~

"But

there are some

of you

that believe not."

For JESUS knew

from the beginning

who

they were that believed not,

and who

should betray HIM+.

John 6:64

But even though HE+ knows, HE+ gives all a chance ... even Judas, whom HE+ brought into His+ very midst to see the signs, wonders, works, and great love HE+ had for mankind.

Judas saw HIM+, talked with HIM+, walked with HIM+, and received His+ love and His+ teachings, the same as the other disciples.

Judas knew something also: Judas knew JESUS was LORD and fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. There was no doubt whatsoever in the mind of Judas about JESUS being the CHRIST, the long-awaited Messiah, the Deliverer.

However, knowing, alas, is not conversion.   

The LORD JESUS knows.

HE+ knows who is following His+ Words. HE+ knows who has His+ SPIRIT. HE+ knows "when virtue goes out of HIM+" as we touch even the hem of His+ Garment, that we be made whole.

The LORD JESUS knows.

HE+ knows who has His+ Life operating inside them. HE+ knows who loves HIM+ more than Self. HE+ knows who is serving Self... no matter how "holy" Self is looking... and who is serving HIM+, no matter how hidden away. 

The LORD JESUS knows.

HE+ knows when we push HIM+ away from controlling us.

HE+ knows who is saying, "LORD, LORD," but who won't lift a finger to follow HIM+, to open His+ Word, to wrestle against Self and Self's headstrong spirit.

HE+ knows who is betraying HIM+ to the Invisible Watchers.

The Invisible Watchers know something too. They know exactly who betrays HIM+... the moment it occurs and where it happens. After a point, they depart... and other beings come in. Then, who is in control of that headstrong person?

The LORD JESUS knows the end from the beginning because HE+ is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.

Yet, His+ Part is finished, as HE+ said from the Cross.

"Behold, I+ make all things new, " HE+ said.

And HE+ will, too... starting now... with you... today.  

O LORD JESUS, I turn over my stubborn Self unto THEE+. Take it, LORD, and re-form me into Thy+ likeness and image... for real, this time. Amen.



Passover Meditation #18 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~  The Door of The Cross ~  ~  ~

The SPIRIT is the ONE making life; the flesh profits not, NOTHING!

The Words which I+,

I+ speak

unto you

are Spirit

and are Life. 

John 6:63 Green's Greek Interlinear

The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. (Psalm 94:11).  

Vanity... fantasy... emptiness... un-profitable...  useless... futile... the thoughts of man are fantasies... here today and gone tomorrow. 

Every person who has "fallen in love"  discoveres an end to that fantasy, sooner or later. "Love" , for the Christian soul, means taking Self to the Cross. 

Every person who buys a house or land, works a career, invests funds knows a certain amount of fear.  

Why?

Because EVERY LIVING PERSON knows these earthly things last for only a temporary amount of time.

Like youth.

Like health.

Like our bodies of clay.

The only thing that is NOT TEMPORARY is death. Our "changed state" lasts forever.  All else are subject to vanity, to fantasy.

A person wears fashionable clothes, buys the "in" vehicle and gadgets, and lives in a certain neighborhood.  

Why ?

To feed his fantasy of how great, knowledgeable, cute, or secure he is... in this world.

In whose eyes? Mankind? Nobody really cares, beyond a passing thought. His own eyes ? What good is a pile of chaff on Judgment Day ? 

All... yes, all... temporal things will eventually burn. All ashes look alike: the rich houses and the poor houses all look alike when reduced to ashes.

BUT... the Good News is there is a better way ! The LORD JESUS said.

His+ Words

are not simply marks

on  paper.

NO.

His+ Words are SPIRIT-filled... meaning, His+ Words have power to give Life, to feed your soul, to nourish your innermost being.

His+ Words are un-like any other words spoken on this planet.  His+ Words attract that hungry, empty heart like a powerful magnet. That hunger fastens itself with great gladness upon those Anointed Words because HE+ is there. 

HE+ can be found in His+ Words. His+ heart is revealed in His+ Words. His+ Life is shared through His+ Words. His+ Will is discovered through His+ Words. 

His+ Words... and His+ Words alone... are SPIRIT and they are Life.

O LORD JESUS, O THOU+ Who+ art the very WORD of GOD-Made-Flesh and dwelling  among us, bring forth in me New Life every day. I love THEE+ , LORD ; help me to attach myself to THEE+ , Who+ art Reality and Truth. 

Strengthen me to forsake all fantasy of this life, of my emotions, of my heart... all fantasies which have one thing in common: they pull me away from THEE+.

Bless my struggle, O LORD, and hear the cry of my heart. And, should I fainting be, LORD let me never, never outlive my love for THEE+.

Passover Meditation #17 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~ The Door of the Cross ~  ~  ~

As

the Living FATHER hath sent ME+,

and I+ live

through The FATHER:

also ,

the one eating ME+,

even that one

will live

through ME+.

John 6:57 Green's Greek Interlinear

Want to be sent out by The FATHER ?

Then learn to live through HIM. 

The things you see your Heavenly FATHER do, you must do.

Haven't seen the Heavenly FATHER,

you say ?

Have I+ been so long time with you, and yet you have not known ME+, Christian ? He that hath seen ME+ hath seen My+ Heavenly FATHER, also.

Do you not believe that  I+ AM in The FATHER and The FATHER in ME+? The FATHER that dwelleth in ME+, HE doeth the works.

O LORD, I confess that I leave THEE+ out of so many parts of my life, out of so many decisions, out of so many reactions.  I see I control. I see I am headstrong. I'm going to live life "my" way... to my destruction and regret. 

Help me, O CHRIST, the Helper of the Weak, to release my life to THEE+ that I may become strong in THEE+. Help me , O SAVIOR, the Deliverer of the Poor, to learn to live through THEE+ so that I may become rich in THEE+.

Please help me not to live my life in futility and vanity, O CHRIST. Please send me forth as Thy+ Representative, as Thy+ Emissary  so that ~ without a word spoken ~  others may see THEE+ and be drawn unto THEE+. Then, my life will be worth living.

Passover Meditation #16 for the Lenten Season 2012

~ ~ ~  The Door of the Cross ~ ~ ~

COME unto ME+,

all ye that labor

and are heavy laden,

and I+ will give you rest.

Take My+ Yoke upon you

and learn of ME+;

for I+ am meek and lowly of heart:

and ye shall find rest

unto your souls.

For My+ Yoke is easy,

and My+ burden Light.

Matthew 11:28-30

HEADSTRONG... an Ugly Word

We put ourselves in harm's way when headstrong . We can know for sure that we are definitely OUT of the LORD'S Will when we are headstrong.  We are moving in DIRECT OPPOSITION to HIM+ when we are moving headstrongly  through life, in our decisions, in our  attitudes. We don't even have to guess if we are doing right or wrong: we are doing wrong.

+  +  +

Do not confuse determination with headstrong. Be determined to move AWAY from being headstrong. Instead, be unshakably determined to move towards ME+ ... and make your unruly flesh and uncontrollable mind MIND ME+ . You will have to deal with yourself as a naughty child.

Operating in a headstrong manner moves you ALWAYS AWAY from ME+. 

I+ was not headstrong.  I+ was determined to do My+ FATHER'S WILL, not My+ own.  I+ will tell you this:

ALL headstrong paths are wrong...

from secret thoughts and accusations

through words spoken in haste,

in anger, and in jest ...

through actions. 

Sanctify you thoughts. Sanctify your words. Be not headstrong, My+ Child. 

NO... you cannot do something because "other Christians" are doing it. I+, I+ AM your Example+ ... not others.

So forsake your headstrongness. Teach your children to forsake their headstrong ways... by both word and example.

COME ! Be like ME+

It takes strength to turn a roaring bull from its path. You are like that bull.

Do you think

it is easy

to be lowly

and meek

?

.

It takes strength to be lowly and meek... more strength than what you've got.  This is one of the hardest battles you will ever fight because the ENEMY IS WITHIN; you have to fight against yourself. But, be of good cheer: I+ will help you !

.

Find your strength

in ME+.

.

COME !

.

Be lowly and meek

. 

.... and STRONG ...

. 

in ME+.

Passover Meditation # 15 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~  The Door of the Cross ~  ~  ~

The one eating

of My+ Flesh

and drinking

of My+ Blood abides in ME+

and I+ in him.

John 6:56 Green’s Greek Interlinear

.

Abides =

remaining UN-changing in a sphere or realm,

continuing...

Remaining in a fixed state,

stable ,

stays,

remains...

Continuously.

On-going.

In the present...

.

If ...

you join The LORD JESUS at the table of His+ death

daily...

partaking of HIM+,

uniting with HIM+

in His+ sufferings

(persecutions or discipline),

an amazing thing occurs:

You live instead of die !

.
Slowly, another amazing happens: You find yourself stable, fixed, not tossed to-and-fro with torments.
.
Your pet fears back away.
.
Your besetting sins find no energy to lure you.
.
The fog clears and you can hear His+ leading and feel His+ nearness.

.
Solid in CHRIST JESUS, you will actually be abiding in a house made of ROCK+ … the Rock+ of Ages. And that home is continuously on-going, in the present, secure and lively.

Simultaneously, a third thing occurs: Amazingly enough, The LORD of the Universe is so near that HE+ begins to abide in YOU ! You yourself provide a home for HIM+.

.
Is your home “secure” for HIM+ ?

. 

Can HE+ trust there is a place

for HIM+ with you ?

.

A place where HE+ can abide

...without sorrow...

for what HE+ sees you doing,

saying, thinking, reacting ?

.
Is there Time in your home

to listen to HIM+

and His+ concerns ?

. 

Uncluttered Time 

to hear His+ heart?

. 

Is there quality Time

to have

heart-to-heart sessions

with HIM+ ?

.

Is your home quiet enough to sit with HIM+ in stillness, at times, without the hustle-bustle of every day chores constantly in the forefront, demanding more than their fair share of attention, and keeping a constant stream of interruption going ?

.

Is it free of un-necessary commitments, ballgames, entertainments and other social activities that are not worth the distraction they cause, distraction that leads away from YOU+ ?

.

O LORD, make my heart your home.

.

I’m sorry for the cluttered closets in my mind, the unclean rooms of my emotions, and the unruly atmosphere of constant activities abounding here.

.

I’m sorry for yesterday’s meals lying about... the world still being savored in me... as well as the dirty laundry of incomplete repentances in my heart... my unkempt life, not ready for Your+ visitation.
. 

LORD JESUS, I want YOU+. I want YOU+ to come and find a home in my heart. Clean me up, LORD, and I will set my priorities according to YOUR+ will, this time. Thank YOU+ JESUS, my LORD.