12/02/2024

2024 ADVENT 2 ~ Abraham Saw It . . . Do We ?


 

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see MY+ Day:

and he saw it, and was glad.

John 8:56

The Patriarch Abraham saw the coming of the MESSIAH+ Who+ would save the world.  That made Abraham rejoice in heart.

Do we see it , as well ?

The Ancient People of GOD lived before MESSIAH+ came.

Now we live after  MESSIAH+ , the Anointed ONE+, the Promised ONE+ WHO+ came to earth to save man from death, hell, and the grave.

Do we STILL REJOICE to see HIS+ Coming Day … this time, the Day of Judgment, the day of reckoning ?

On this Second "Day of The LORD,"  HE+ will come not as a Babe+ in a manger, but in flaming FIRE to take vengeance on them who know not GOD nor obey The Gospel of The LORD JESUS CHRIST.

As it is written …

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

And to you who are troubled rest with us,

when THE LORD JESUS shall be revealed from Heaven

with HIS+ mighty angels,  in flaming fire

taking vengeance on them that know not GOD,

and that obey not the Gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST

who shall be punished with everlasting destruction

 from the Presence of THE LORD,

from the Glory of HIS+  Power; when HE+ shall come to be glorified in HIS+ saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. 

+  +  +

Are we even looking  for that DAY , HIS+ Second ADVENT ?

If we were looking for it, we would be hard at work for the Salvation of those who know not CHRIST nor the power of His+ Rising.

For, when HE+ comes the Second time,

it will be too late  to save those who know not GOD,

according to 2 Thessalonians 1:10 !

+  +  +

Are we content to celebrate His+ wonderful Birth, breaking into this world darkened by sin  . . . and forget that many still remain lost in  that SAME darkness of sin ?

Many remain who have not had one prayer of Salvation prayed for them.  Many remain whom the gods of this world have darkened their understanding.  

Many, many remain within the strongholds the evil one has put them.

YES, we are GLAD for our  Salvation and rightly so, but are we a light which has hidden itself UNDER a bushel basket ? 

Instead of shining on a hill,

are we a light shining in our OWN Kingdom

--- O, bless me, Lord ! Bless me, Lord ! ---

as we work our OWN will ?

Are we consumed with obtaining a happy life here on earth ?  

Do we flee from being near the weak, tired, poor, dirty, and unruly unredeemed ?

Those whose lives are out of order need us MOST.

Because they are the hardest people to be around, we gravitate towards those who are already cleaned up from the  excesses of sin, don’t we ?

+  +  +

Let us pray:

Dear LORD JESUS,

YOU+ came for me, to clean me up, to clean me out.

Help me not to shy away from the “unclean” people who are yet in this world.

Let Your+ Loving INVITATION TO LIFE in JESUS  flow from my eyes, from my heart, and from my words, to all the “unclean” people I see or meet throughout the day.

For I know YOU+ love them as much as YOU+ love me.

Show me how to invite them into The Family of GOD … 

  • in Your+ love, 
  • through Your+ mercy, 
  • in fear of Your+ Righteous  Judgment, 
  • and by the TRUTH written in Your+ Word
  • …  all of which are given to save men’s souls.  

Help me not to shy away from speaking the Word of Conviction where it is needed which may work to save their souls.

Because YOU+ loved me before I was cleansed, I must love them… before they are clean.

Help me to be like YOU+, O precious SAVIOR+, for YOU+ came to be the SAVIOR+ of the world... the world that was lost in sin. 

In Your+ Precious, Life-Giving Name, O LORD CHRIST, I pray. Amen.

12/01/2024

2024 ADVENT 1 ~ There’s Coming a Day !

  


ADVENT 1 ~ There’s Coming a Day !

Abraham Saw It !

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see MY+ Day:

and he saw it, and was glad. 

Words of The LORD JESUS , recorded in John 8:56

                                                         +  +  +   

How did The LORD JESUS CHRIST  know that ?

How did HE+ know that Abraham rejoiced when HE+ came to earth ?

Abraham saw “the day” The SAVIOR+ came to earth incarnate, was crucified, and Resurrected never to die again.  “The Day” … meaning the entire course of The MESSIAH’S +  pilgrimage upon earth, it seems.

How did The LORD JESUS  know   that gladness and rejoicing transpired within Abraham’s bosom ?

HE+ tells us how:

JESUS said unto them,

Verily, verily, I+ say unto you,

Before Abraham was,

I+ AM.

John 8:58

+  +  +

HE+ knew Abraham because our LORD JESUS CHRIST was with The FATHER from the Foundation of the earth.  HE+ was part of The ELOHIM ~ The Divine, Plural, 3-in-1, unified  GODHEAD.  HE+ was The WORD+  with  GOD.

The LORD JESUS was part of The ELOHIM in Genesis which created man and this world .

So when Abraham worshipped The ELOHIM, The LORD JESUS was included in Abraham’s worship. 

Whenever Abraham built an altar and worshipped, The ELOHIM,  The LORD JESUS was also worshipped because HE+ was an  intrinsic, fundamental part of  THE ELOHIM.   

HE+ knew Abraham’s heart when The ELHOHIM called Abraham away from his family  to follow HIM --- the Divine ECHAD, the Divine, Unified ONE.   

Has HIS+ ability TO KNOW the hearts of men changed ?

Does HE+ know your heart today?

Hasn’t HE+ ALWAYS known it ?

+  +  +

LET US PRAY:

Dear LORD JESUS,

Yes, LORD JESUS, YOU+ know my heart also . YOU+ knew me in my Mother’s womb.

YOU+ know what makes me happy and what makes me afraid. 

YOU+ know when I’m thankful and when I am NOT. YOU+ know me when I am anxious and tied in a knot inside of my heart.

O LORD JESUS, forgive me for my lack of trust when the “unknowns” come, for YOU+ are my Shepherd+; I shall not want.

Forgive me for my unthankful spirit, for I DO LOVE YOU+, LORD JESUS; YOU+ alone are my life. 

Help me to change my ways and to become more pleasing to YOU+ in the thoughts of my heart. . .  for YOU+ understand my thoughts afar off. ( Psalm 139:2).  

Like Jeremiah, before I , too, was formed in the womb, YOU+ knew me .

Grant me a clean heart, O LORD JESUS, and renew a right , TRUSTING, spirit within me.

To YOU+ I bend the knees of my heart now, during this remembrance of Your+ first Advent.  

Thank YOU+ for calling me to be Yours+.

In Your+ Holy Name, LORD JESUS CHRIST, I lift this prayer to you.

Amen and amen.

 

          

5/17/2024

FUELING THE FIRE of PENTECOST ! Pentecost 2024 ~ May 19


Repost from Year of Our LORD,  5. 30. 2020 ~~

COMING to Our DAY of PENTECOST

And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come,

they were all with one accord

in one place.

Acts 2:1

Oh, how we love this familiar verse ! 

5/09/2024

The GLORIOUS ASCENSION of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST ~ The Triumph of HOPE ~ Ascension Day 2024

 



How gladly we think upon the Glorious Ascension of the Glorified Body of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST ! 

This witness of our Resurrected LORD JESUS should fill us with a triumphant HOPE . 

When our Loved One dies in the LORD, he / she too will gain a glorified body LIKE UNTO HIS+ GLORIFIED BODY . . . at the appointed time .

WHO+ shall change our vile body,

that it may be fashioned 

like unto HIS+ Glorious Body,

according to the working whereby

HE+ is able even to subdue

all things unto HIMSELF+

Philippians 3:21

In HIS+ glorified body, HE+ ate physical food, yet HE+ could enter into a locked room .

HE+ walked with His+ Followers along a dusty road and talked with them ( seemingly ) in His+  physical body ...  yet HE+ could vanish out of sight instantly, energizing His+ Followers to walk ANOTHER 7 miles back to Jerusalem that night !

Knowing that CHRIST 

being raised from the dead

dieth no more;

death hath no more dominion over HIM+!

Romans 6:9

DEATH hath no more dominion over HIM+ . . . and it shall have no more dominion over us . . . if we stay attached to the True VINE+.

That is the Glorious HOPE we have. That is  WHY we celebrate Ascension Day, be in May 9 ,2024 , Western Christian calendar, or June 6, Eastern Christian calendar.

The date may change; the FACT does NOT !

+  +  +

ACTS 1:1  The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that JESUS began both to do and teach, 

ACTS 1:2  Until the day in which HE+ was taken up, after that HE+ through the HOLY SPIRIT had given commandments unto the apostles whom HE+ had chosen: 

ACTS 1:3  To whom also HE+ shewed himself alive after HIS+ Passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of GOD: 

ACTS 1:4  And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for The Promise of THE FATHER, which, saith HE+, ye have heard of me. 

ACTS 1:5  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the HOLY SPIRIT not many days hence. 

ACTS 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of HIM+, saying, LORD, wilt THOU+  at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

ACTS 1:7  And HE+ said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which THE FATHER hath put in HIS own Power.

ACTS 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the HOLY SPIRIT is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto ME+ both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

And when HE+ had spoken these things,

while they beheld, HE+ was taken up;

and a cloud received HIM+ out of their sight. ACTS 1:9 

 

ACTS 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as HE+ went up, behold, TWO MEN stood by them in white apparel; 

ACTS 1:11  Which also said, 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. 

Worthy is The LAMB+ !

Worthy is The LAMB+ !

Worthy is The LAMB+ that was slain

to receive Power, and Riches, and Wisdom

and Strength, and Honor, and Glory, and Blessing !

Blessing and Honor, Glory and Power

Be unto HIM that sitteth upon The Throne

and unto THE LAMB+ !