Category Archives: Church

Den Of Thieves

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He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” Matthew 21:13

As we begin this Holy Week, Jesus makes his first stop to cleanse the Holy Temple. The Holy Temple which was built , not only to worship God, but the place on Earth where God resided. However the Holy Temple of God has been turned more into a corporation than a house of prayer, where selling of merchandise , had become higher priority than true worship of God

Jesus showed his disgust by overthrowing tables and chasing the merchants out! Often we only hear about a watered down version of Jesus , but here Jesus would not allow his Father’s house to be desecrated.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16

Today if you’re a Christian, you are the temple of God. The Holy Spirit dwells in you, just as he did in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Is your Temple Holy or desecrated? Are you allowing Jesus to cleanse out your Temple or are you conforming to the ways of the world?

Its important as Christians, we continually reflect on the current state of our faith. Would Jesus be pleased with the current condition of your spiritual life or would be overthrowing tables?

This Holy Week lets make a strong commitment to keep our Holy Temples pure in Jesus Name Amen!

The King Is Coming! #PalmSunday

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Took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.” John 12:13

The King is Coming! On this “Palm Sunday” while we remember and celebrate King Jesus coming into Jerusalem , we also must remember that the King of Kings will return again. The first time he came as “The Lamb” the next time he will return as “The Lion” and reestablish Gods kingdom forevermore

These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him. John 12:16

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a Donkey instead of a horse, people did not understand. They were looking for a mighty King like David, who would destroy the Romans and free the Jewish people from oppression. However Jesus came as the “Prince of Peace” to save not just the Jews but the entire world.

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; Revelation 7:9

Fast forward to the return of Jesus , a great multitude which no one could count, meaning everyone Jew and Gentile, who is saved by the blood of Christ will be standing at the throne of God. Clothed in white robes with palm branches!

Get your Palm Branches ready because the King is Coming back soon! Blessed is Yeshua (Jesus) who comes in the name of Yahweh (God) in Jesus Name Amen!

Revelation Chapter 1

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The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw–that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:1-2

Notice that this is the “Revelation of Jesus Christ”, this is not the Revelation from John or anyone else. The words in this prophetic book are from our Lord and Savior directly!

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near Revelation 1:3

What a message , “Blessed is the one who reads and hears the words of this prophecy!” This is why studying Revelation is so important as a Christian, to know no matter how out of control the world may seem, we still have victory in Jesus Christ!

John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, Revelation 1:4

Here we see Jesus is giving a message (letters) to seven individual churches in the province of Asia, why seven? Seven is the number of completion in the Bible, for example creation was completed on the seventh day. You will see the number seven used throughout the book of Revelation.

We notice the “Seven Spirits” also, this is reference to The Holy Spirit. We remember Paul describing the “Seven gifts of The Holy Spirit ” (1 Corinthians 12) , remember 7 is symbolic for completion. So at this moment we have the Father, Son , and Holy Spirit at the throne.

and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, Revelation 1:5

Here we see a couple key passages, first it confirms Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, meaning Jesus physically died during his crucifixion and was resurrected back to life. This is important because there are some groups who don’t believe in a physical resurrection.

Second it says “Jesus loves us” in present tense. This is the only place in the Bible where its stated in present tense. What a wonderful message!

and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father–to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Revelation 1:6

Every translation has the same thing, we were all made to be priests to serve God. Not just your local pastor but every Christian. What the means is what Jesus commanded at the great commission ” Go and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19) Share the gospel to everyone whenever you have a chance

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. Revelation 1:7

When Jesus Christ returns , there will be no mistake! Every eye in the world will see him. Some people falsely teach that Jesus already returned, No you will know when Christ returns

And “all peoples on earth” meaning unsaved “will mourn because of Christ”. It will be a horrible day for the unsaved as judgement is coming to everyone on Earth. This is why it’s important to be “Priests for God” to save as many people as possible through Christ

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

Jesus is revealing his deity here, Alpha and Omega are the first and last words of the Greek alphabet, so Jesus is saying he is the beginning and the end (Isaiah 41:4) Meaning Jesus has always existed, he was not created as some false teachers preach

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 1:9

John is the author of Revelation , who was banished on the island of Patmos because of Christian persecution. Most are in agreement that this is the Apostle John, who also wrote the Gospel of John and Epistles of John.

On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, Revelation 1:10

This is an important scripture here as John was writing this on “The Lords Day”, which is Sunday the day Jesus was resurrected. This confirms that “The Lords Day” was established and recognized by the first century church.

Those who oppose this view confuse “The Lords Day” with “Day of The Lord” which are totally different. “Day of The Lord” would be referencing Revelation 6:17 when Jesus Christ returns for judgement!

which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” Revelation 1:11

Remember earlier the number 7 is symbolic for completeness, so even though there are more than seven churches in the Asia Minor, Jesus will address only 7 to symbolize the complete “Body of Christ” hence these letters are relevant to all Christians just as all the other Epistles are.

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. Revelation 1: 12-13

John is now about to come face to face with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. First he sees 7 golden lampstands, these can be described better as “Jewish Menorahs” As revealed later in the Chapter, the lampstands are symbolic for The Churches.

John begins describing Jesus appearance, Son of Man which was a common phrase for Christ (Matthew 24:30) which Jesus himself described himself fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel 7:13

The robe and golden sash are symbolic for Jesus authority and royalty as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. Revelation 1:14-15

Here we get some symbolic descriptions of who Jesus Christ is. The whiteness is symbolic for his holiness and purity, while his eyes are a blazing fire, meaning he has come to bring judgement upon the unrepentant sinners.

Bronze is symbolic for Gods judgement. His voice was so authoritative and intimidating sounds like rushing waters.

For those of you who haven’t accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, don’t delay any longer. I would not want to face the wrath of the King of Kings!

In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. Revelation 1:16

Here we see 7 stars in the right hand of Jesus, remember right hand is very symbolic in Jewish culture meaning “special place of honor or authority” as Jesus sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19)

Jesus is the living Word and Truth, everything he speaks is like a double edge sword as described in Hebrews 4:12, his truth cuts to the bone of sinners and scoffers, that’s why the Bible is so offensive to the ungodly

Jesus is The Light of The World (John 8:12) is holiness, truth , and righteousness radiate as the Glory of God

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. Revelation 1:17

Again Jesus reveals his deity , Jesus is omnipotent meaning he has no beginning or end ( Isaiah 41:4) Notice also when John fell to Jesus feet to worship him, Jesus did not rebuke him but acknowledged him

I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Revelation 1:18

Again Jesus confirms his bodily resurrection, as he confirms he was dead and now alive forever! This is important because if Christ didn’t die and be raised again, then we would have no hope for ourselves. As Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 15

Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades (grave) Jesus holds the only hope for our souls, only through him can we obtain eternal life

Hades typically means grave or realm of the dead. Its sometimes confused with Hell but has a totally different meaning

Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. Revelation 1:19

This is important to understand that some things in Revelation already happened, some things were happening right then, and many things are prophetic (will be happening in the future)

Remember Jesus said when he is coming “every eye will see him”, don’t fall for a lot of false prophets about the end of the world ect. When Christ comes you will know when the end is near!

The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Revelation 1:20

Jesus reveals the symbolism of the 7 stars and 7 lampstands

7 Stars = Angels of the Churches

7 Lampstands = Churches

7 Churches = Body of Christ

7 Spirit = Holy Spirit

 

Deny Yourself

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And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Luke 9:23

When we look at Christianity today, it has become the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. Preachers have not become more like “self help” salesmen rather than ministers of God. Everyone is looking for “ their best life now”, looking for prosperity and fame.

Jesus is telling us to “Get over ourselves”, stop worrying or pursing the things of this world. Give up the lust for the things of this world and pursue righteousness with God. This is obviously hard for many to do as we are carnally minded. But until we “Deny Ourselves” we can’t become a true Christian

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. Luke 9:24

Jesus even goes one step further, if you continue to live carnally minded for the world, you will lose your life. The only way to gain eternal life, is to be crucified with Christ. Most people when they see the cross, they only see Christ on their. However we must all become crucified and resurrected to be “Born Again”

If you want eternal life, you must lose this carnal life first. You can’t live in the flesh and expect to walk in The Spirit.  Take up your cross daily, humble yourself, be willing to suffer for the Kingdom of God is at hand in Jesus Name Amen!

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And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ Mark 7:6-7

I think one of the interesting things about Christianity, is Jesus came to abolish religion yet man made another religion out of his teachings.  The Pharisees were supposed to be experts of the scriptures, however they couldn’t even identify The Messiah right before their eyes.

See The Pharisees even though they loved God and the concept of  him, their hearts were far from God. Instead of them listening to the teachings of the Son of God, they judged him based on their manmade rules and opinions. They were hypocrites just as Isaiah prophesied they would be. They talked the talk but they didn’t walk the walk. Sadly we see many Christians doing the same thing today

And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ Matthew 22:38

Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. If the Pharisees really loved God they would have given Jesus a chance. Instead of condemning him because he ate with unclean hands, or scolding him because he healed the sick on the Sabbath. Or if they were truly seeking God then they would have recognized Jesus is The Messiah

But their hearts were far away from God even though they talked like holy people. Don’t allow your heart to wander from God, love him with all your heart, soul, and mind in Jesus Name Amen!

5 Loaves + 2 Fish

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But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” Mark 6:37

Lets set the scene…there is a large crowd composed of men, woman, and children. They have traveled from great distances to see the Son of God speak. Its getting late, everyone is hungry and tired. The location they are at is remote, it would take hours to travel back into town, so the disciples decided to send them all away

But notice what Jesus says “You give them something to eat!”

The disciples are perplexed, they don’t have any food or shelter to give anyone. How are they going to feed a crowd of over 5,000 people?

And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Mark 6:38

Notice how Jesus responds, “How many loaves do you have?”  Meaning instead of saying all the things we don’t have , tell him what we do have to give!”  This is a lesson even today all of us can learn from. We have many reasons and excuses to not help people out, limited money, limited time, limited resources. But God doesn’t want to hear our excuses he wants to know what we have and he will bless it!

And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. Mark 6:41

Jesus took what the disciples did have to offer, blessed it, and multiplied it! There was more Bread and Fish , then the disciples knew what to do with. God is our provider, not us. We need to take the gifts that God has given us and use them to serve others, and God will bless and provide for us in Jesus Name Amen!

Fear God

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The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. Ecclesiastes 12:13

A person who doesn’t  “Fear God”, is the most dangerous person in the world. Because without the Fear of God there is no morality or love. With all the violence and blood shed happening around our country and world, the “Fear of God” needs to be brought back more than ever

Everyone is looking for a reason and a solution to all the madness happening in our society today. They want to blame it on guns, blame it on mental illness, blame it on our authorities, but the core of the issue is , with no respect or knowledge of God, there will be no cure.

We were all made in Gods image, we were taught by Jesus Christ  to “Love our Neighbor as ourselves” . But when society removes Jesus and tells our children that God doesn’t exist, then society starts to collapse. Where does our morality come from then? What is the purpose for the human race?

The Hebrew word for “Fear” is “Yirah” meaning “Awesomeness” or “Reverence” . When we “Fear God” we don’t react to him like a dictator, we stand back and look at the sky and the ocean, and stand in awe of his Creation. We stand in “Reverence” that even though we were sinners, Christ went to the cross and died for us out of love.

If we want to bring this country and world back, we need to bring us back to “Fear God”, to understand we are created in our Heavenly Fathers image, to know he counts every hair on our head, to know right from wrong, to know Christ has given us eternal life in Jesus Name Amen!

 

500 Can’t Be Wrong

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After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 1 Corinthians 15:6

Can 500 people be wrong? Paul tells us that there was over 500 eye witnesses to the resurrected Jesus Christ, including himself. Now if we were going to put the issue of Jesus Resurrection on trial, I believe the evidence of over 500 eye witnesses would suffice in winning the case!

Often people who are non believers will say “there is no evidence for God”. This is not a true statement, as the New Testament reveals a lot of evidence for the resurrected Jesus Christ. However skeptics want you to throw out The Bible because they know its evidence is irrefutable and damaging to their case.

Now their next comeback will be that The Bible is not reliable. Let’s point out a few facts that shows this claim is untrue .

  • New Testament manuscripts are much earlier than any other historic book in history. There are over 5,700 Greek manuscripts from the New Testament. Most other books from ancient world are lucky to have 10 to 20 manuscripts.
  • The New Testament manuscripts are from much earlier than any other book also. For example most believe the earliest gospels were written around 25 years after Christ , where as Alexander the Great for example, was written 500 years after his death.
  • The New Testament manuscripts also have a 99.9% accuracy which was reaffirmed by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I could go on about this subject, but the point is , 500 people , who were willing to die for the truth, can’t be wrong. There is overwhelming evidence of the existence of God and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen!

40 Days

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Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. Matthew 4:1-2

Since this week is the beginning of Lent season, today we are taking a look at the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. This is symbolic of the 40 days before Easter (Lent  Season) originated. During this journey we see that Jesus was tempted with three temptations that all of us face in our daily lives.

And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'” Matthew 4:3-4

The first temptation we see is the lust of the flesh. Jesus , who has been fasting for 40 days, is obviously very hungry and vulnerable at this point. Satan tries to tempt him by enticing him to make stones into bread. Jesus replies with scripture and says “Man shall not live on bread alone” meaning as Christians we deny our physical temptations which are sinful, to live holy and be a true disciple of Christ.

This could apply to many physical temptations in our lives such as drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, gluttony, ect. However by the Holy Spirit we can overcome these temptations and avoid sin

Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'” Matthew 4:5-6

The second temptation comes from human pride. Satan tries to challenge Jesus, by saying if you are the Son of God, then prove it. Often times in life when our pride is challenged, we might make a bad decision just to prove that we are the boss or in charge. Jesus however didn’t fall for this trap

Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'” Matthew 4:7

Satan was even quoting scripture to try and lure Jesus into the temptation, but Jesus responded by saying “Don’t test God”.  Jesus demonstrated this humility also later in John 13, Jesus washed the feet of his own disciples. Instead of Jesus being a dictator leader he was leading by example.

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4:8-9

The final temptation Satan was trying to tempt Jesus into the lust of the eyes. Look at all these beautiful possessions we can have if we just sell our soul. Jesus didn’t fall for this but sadly we see people do this every day. We see actors and musicians sell all their morals and values just to become rich, what they don’t understand is they are worshipping Satan and his worldly system

Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'” Matthew 4:10

Again Jesus overcame this temptation and told Satan to go away! As the Bible tells us “Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7) Worship God and serve him only!

We need to remember Jesus was in human form, susceptible to Satans temptations and overcame by The Holy Spirit. We can overcome also because Greater is he living inside of me than he that is living in the world (! John 4:4) in Jesus Name Amen!

Heart, Mind, and Soul

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“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7

Today we take a look at Cane and Abel, brothers that Satan tore apart to caused the first murder! Both brothers brought an offering before God; however God was pleased with Abel’s but not Cain’s? Why?

We have to remember God wants our heart,mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37) not just our presence, like quality over quantity. It says that Abel offered his first born sheep of his flock (Firstfruits), this was the best Abel had to offer and because of this God was pleased.  While Cain offered some random fruit from his garden, could have been leftovers or bad fruit, but it surely wasn’t his best, God rejected it!

God doesn’t really care what you are offering him, but what you are offering him should be the best you can provide from your heart. Cain was just going through the motions basically trying to trick God, but God reads our hearts, minds, and soul.

Now this rejection from God obviously upset Cain, and instead of him trying to do better, he became insanely jealous of his brother Abel.  As God said to him “sin is crouching at your door” meaning if you allow this jealousy and anger to manifest in you, it will grow into sin (James 1:15). That’s exactly what happened.

Instead of Cain, repenting, he allowed sin to grow into murder! (James 1:15) God wants us to love him with all our heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37) , not just going through the motions!  Just like the 5 loaves and 2 fish, give God whatever you have and he will bless you in Jesus Name Amen!