Return of The King - - The Breath of The Lord

 

    Isaiah 40:7

The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of The LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

        THE BREATH OF THE LORD

    The breath of The LORD has power. David's song of deliverance in 2 Samuel 22:16 tells us, "The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils." That's a mighty strong breath: the channels-the valleys beneath the sea, the seabeds-were exposed. This is just a mere chiding of The LORD's breath. 

    Moses sang a song of deliverance, as well, after Pharaoh and his army were destroyed. Exodus 15:8-10 "At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters."

    The LORD's breath can both deliver and destroy. Job 4:8,9

" As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed."

    The breath of The LORD creates winter. Job 37:10 "By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen." 

    The breath of God burns. Isaiah 30:33 says, "For Topheth (a place of burning, of cremation; a city near Jerusalem) has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze." 

    Job 33:4 "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of The Almighty gives me life."

    With His breath God speaks life and death. Life to the people who love Him, honor Him, believe His Word and receive His Son. Death to the people who rebel against Him, deny Him, disobey His Word and receive not His Son. Life to they who seek His face and not just His hand; who want to be near Him, not just want something from Him. Death to they who refuse to enter His presence and deny that anything they have, including every breath they take, comes from God. 

  

    With His breath God created the earth and everything in and on and around it. Genesis 1. Psalm 33:6 "the stars". Psalm 104:5-30 "His works, creations". 

SALVATION A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

    Most of us know the story of the dry bones, but have we ever paid attention to what God told Ezekiel? Read Ezekiel 37:1-14 , specifically verse 9 for our study today, "Then He said to me, “Prophesy to The Breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell The Breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!” (italics mine). 

    Without The Breath of God, The Spirit of God, there cannot be Life. Jesus informed Nicodemus (John 3:5) that without water and Spirit no one could be born again. It is The Spirit that gives life (John 6:63). Christ is The Word. The Spirit is The Life. The Word cannot speak unless The Spirit, The Breath, makes it possible (John 5:16-30). 

    In the baptism of water we make a confession of faith in Jesus Christ. In the baptism of fire we receive The Breath of life from God, His precious Holy Spirit. 

    I need The Word and The Spirit. The Word gives Life Eternal and The Spirit is that Life. I am nothing without both. I am just dry bones, dry bones lying in a desert wilderness. But I saw the Light and repented of all my sins against God. And The Word gave me Life when I believed God and trusted God. 

    You can have Life, too. All you have to do is believe God's Word is True and Faithful. Repent of your sins against God, turn away from doing those things and do the things which God wants you to do. Receive The Holy Spirit, The Breath of God, into you by the power of God's Word, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ and begin to live this new life which God has birthed into you. 

BREATH OF GOD 

     

    

    

Return of The King - - Cry Out!

 

    Isaiah 40:6

A voice says, "Cry out!" And I asked, "What shall I cry out?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field."

LENGTH OF LIFE

    Job 14:1,2

“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure."

    1 Peter 1:24,25

For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but The Word of The Lord stands forever.” And this is The Word that was proclaimed to you.

    Psalm 103:14-16

For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust. 

As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.

    GOD'S VOICE CRIES OUT TO US

    We are informed by John the Baptist to "Prepare the way of The Lord." What does that mean to us? For their are no roadways to repair, nor are their paths to straiten. We need to prepare our hearts to receive its King. We need to come near to the voice of wisdom (Proverbs) and learn what The Lord would have us to know before He arrives on the scene. 

    In ancient days, and even now in some cultures, a herald, a publicist, would arrive before the King, announcing as he came that "The King is coming! The King is coming! Fill in the potholes that His horses would not stumble. Clean up the roads that the path will be unblemished and spotless. For The King is Coming!" 

    So, even now, God's heralds also cry out, "King Jesus is Coming! Prepare your hearts to receive Him! Repent, for His kingdom is near!" Repentance is necessary for the King to make His home in our hearts. It opens the door for The King to enter in. 

    His forgiveness cleanses our hearts. His great love for us is what caused Him to arrive in the first place. His grace is poured upon us like oil, covering our wounds and preparing us for His purpose. 

    MAKE YOURSELVES READY

    This prophecy concerning John was given to Elizabeth, "And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for The Lord." This is what God's people Cry Out! even now: Make ready a people prepared for The Lord. 

    Read our Bibles with prayer, seeking God's wisdom and asking Him along the Way to fill us with understanding, that we, too--as Daniel and his companions were--may be children of excellence in His sight. Daniel 1:8,17.

    Repent: confess our sins to God and STOP doing them. Instead, fill our hearts and minds with The WORD of GOD. This is not just memorization of The Word, but filling the well of our hearts with God's Word, that, when needed The Spirit of God may draw up from the deep and filled well of our hearts The necessary Word which needs to be spoken at such and such a time. 

    Seek God. Pray incessantly to God our Father. As a child converses with his loving father, let us speak also with our Loving Father. Sharing our days, though short they may be, with The Father Who gave us these days. Seeking to be near Him, to follow Him and see what He's doing. As a child follows his dad, that he might learn and do what he sees his dad do. 

    I Cry Out! "Prepare your hearts to receive The King of Kings!" 

JESUS IS COMING SOON

CRY OUT various artists 

    

    

The Lord Is ....AUGUST 2023

 

        ADONAI 

(pronounced 'adhonay)

    SOVEREIGNTY

    1 Kings 2:26

And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to Anathoth, to thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death; but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of ADONAI JEHOVAH before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

    This is the first and only time the word ADONAI is used in the Bible as descriptive of one of God's Names. Though there are attachments to the Name ADONAI, as we will see further on, this is the only time the single definition of ADONAI is indicated. 

Isaiah 44:6

Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: "I am The First and I am The Last, and there is no God but Me."

Revelation 1:5

And from Jesus Christ, The Faithful Witness, the firstborn from the dead, and The Ruler of the kings of the earth. 

Deuteronomy 10:17

For The LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.

Revelation 19:16

And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Isaiah 45:23

By Myself I have sworn; Truth has gone out from My mouth, a Word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.

ADONAI - Joshua Aaron

ADONAI-SHALOM

(pronounced 'adhonay shaw-lome')

THE LORD IS PEACE

Judges 6:24

Then Gideon built an altar there unto The LORD, and called it 'ADONAI-SHALOM'; unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

(JPS Tanakh)

THE LORD IS OUR PEACE

Ephesians 2:14

For He Himself is our Peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility.

HIS PEACE OVERCOMES FEAR

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it fear.

HIS PEACE PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

ADONAI-NISSI

(pronounced 'adhonay nace)

THE LORD MY BANNER

    Exodus 17:15

And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it ADONAI-NISSI.

    Psalm 60:4

You have given a Banner to them that fear You, that it may be displayed because of the Truth. Selah.

    Psalm 20:5

May we shout for joy at your victory and raise a Banner in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your petitions.

    Isaiah 5:26

He lifts a Banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold--how speedily and swiftly they come!

    Isaiah 11:10,12

On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a Banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.

He will raise a Banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

    John 3:12

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so The Son of Man must be lifted up.

    John 8:28

So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up The Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.

    John 12:32

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.”

ADONAI-NISSI

THE LORD MY BANNER

 

     The Son of Man was indeed lifted up and even now calls everyone who hears to come to the cross. Come and see Jesus. Come and be washed in the blood of The Lamb, that your sins would be washed away from your hearts when you repent of them. Come and receive The Spirit of God into your life that you may live a holy and righteous life in the presence of God. That you may be ready to meet Jesus in the air when The Father sends Him to bring His bride home.

    Come to the garden and be raised up in newness of life, ready to walk in the strength of The Lord and be filled with the power of His Holy Spirit to speak forth the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. That all who hear may believe and receive, as well. 

     Revelation 22:17

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the Water of Life drink freely.

ADONAI-JIREH

(pronounced 'adhonay  yir-eh')

THE LORD MY PROVIDER

Genesis 22:14

And Abraham called the name of that place ADONAI-JIREH; as it is said to this day: 'In the mount where the LORD is seen.'

    He is The God who will see to it that all His people's needs are provided for. 

    We need a relationship with God.

Genesis 1:26,27; 2:7 & 2 Peter 1:3

    We need to be loved so God loves us. 

2 Chronicles 9:8 & John 3:16 & Romans 5:8

    We need saving so God provides a sacrificial Lamb to take away our sins.

Genesis 22:8 & John 1:2

    We need cleansing to make us holy so God provides water

2 Kings 5:1-16 & John 3:5,6 

    and fire.

Matthew 3:11 & Acts 2:1-4

    The LORD Provides

    

Return of The King - - Glory Revealed

 

    Isaiah 40:5

And the glory of The LORD will be revealed, and all humanity will see it. For the mouth of The LORD has spoken.

    Exodus 40:34

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of The LORD filled the tabernacle.

    Revelation 15:8

The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God  and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

    We've never seen the full glory of God. Our humanity is too weak to handle it. As we read in Revelation 15:8, no one will see the full glory of God in His temple until the seven plagues are completed. And even then only those who have believed that Jesus Christ is LORD will be able to see Him in all His glory. But what a sight that will be! 

GLORY REVEALED 

    

Change Coming

 

    Isaiah 40:4

Ever valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.

    At first glance this appears to be merely discussing landscape rearrangements. But a deeper study shows this to be more than a topographical rearranging and more like a personal change. 

    With this in mind we read in Isaiah 42:16, "I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them." Jesus is the Light in the darkness. When we follow Him faithfully (keep Him near to us), we are able to walk where He walks. 

    Who is more blind than the person who walks in darkness?And, yet, we who walk by faith in Christ Jesus, walk where we cannot see. But Jesus sees what is before us and leads us where He desires we go. 

    Where we see an impassable river, Jesus sees a stream. We climb mountains only to discover these were mere hills. We run through wide open valleys only to realize these were but paths. We trip on boulders that are actually pebbles; but we get back up and move on. 

    The status quo is about to change. 1 Samuel 2:8 "He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and He has set the world upon them." 

    In Matthew 22:1-14 we read of a banquet that is being given. The invitations have gone out but the recipients chose, for one excuse or another, to not go. So the king invites everyone else. It is written that he sent his servants out into the streets to invite people in to the banquet. 

    These people were raised to the level of respected invitees. The people who had been invited and refused to attend were killed off. But, really, who are all of these people? 

    The second group is the believers, the born again through the blood of The Lamb and the baptism of The Spirit. The ones who refused to attend are the unbelievers. Which group do you want to be in? 

LION/LAMB - Josh Leventhal

A Voice of One Calling

 

    Isaiah 40:3

A voice of one calling "Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert."

    We, the born again, are the voice. Like John the Baptist, who prepared the way for his cousin Jesus Christ, we cry out still today, "Jesus is coming! Prepare your hearts to receive Him!" 

     The wilderness is the area where the unbeliever dwells, just as the unbelieving Israelites remained in the wilderness instead of entering Canaan (Numbers 14:21-35).  

    There are no crooked inroads to salvation through Christ Jesus. There is the Way of Holiness (Isaiah 35:8), a strait and narrow (Matthew 7:14) old [ancient]path (Jeremiah 6:16) which leads to Zion, the mount of God. 

    We are all sinners. We start out that way because we are born with a sinful nature. But when we reach the age of accountability, where we know the difference between what is right and what is wrong, we become accountable for our beliefs and our lifestyle. 

    When we believe that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD and listen to The Holy Spirit of God Who has been given to the believer as a Guide and an Advocate, we become God's people, a holy nation (Romans 10:9-13; John 1:12,13; John 14:16,17; Acts 1:4, 5:32; 1 Peter 2:9). We have left the wilderness of unbelief and entered into the promised land. 

     But nothing in this promised land is ours for the taking: we must do the work God has given us to do; and do it joyfully and wholeheartedly. After all, we have the best Boss in the whole universe!  And He has given us a Partner who not only works with us but intercedes for us with our Employer. 

    So, we cry out, "Prepare yourselves to receive Jesus Christ! Repent of your sins. Throw yourselves on the mercy of the court and ask Jesus to come into your hearts, ask for and receive His Holy Spirit, Who will help you lead righteous and holy lives. Jesus is Coming! Jesus is Coming for us! Be ready. Be wise."

    When the unbelieving heart hears The Name of Jesus Christ and refuses to repent of their sins, they remain in the wilderness of unbelief and they will die in their sinful state. They will never know the joy and wonder of being loved by God; never experience Grace poured out upon their open hearts. 

    When the unrepentant heart dies in its sins, there are no more opportunities to believe in Jesus Christ. Once a person is dead they cannot be prayed out of hell and into heaven. The only Bridge between heaven and hell is Belief on The Name of The LORD JESUS CHRIST and it must be walked when we kneel at the cross, see Jesus and repent, which simply means to confess our sins and turn away from doing those things. It is impossible to repent once you're dead. 

    Again, we cry out, "Prepare yourselves to receive Jesus Christ! Repent of your sins. Throw yourselves on the mercy of the court and ask Jesus to come into your hearts, ask for and receive His Holy Spirit, Who will help you lead righteous and holy lives. Jesus is Coming! Jesus is Coming for us! Be ready. Be wise."

WE ARE THE VOICE  - study playlist

Cup of Wrath

 Part Three of The CupBearer & The Cups

    Revelation 14:9,10

And another, a third angel, followed them, saying in a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the anger of God, having been mixed undiluted in The Cup of His Wrath; and he will be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before The Lamb."

    Such is the dreadful future of the unbelieving soul, the unrepentant heart. In Sodom and Gomorrah fire fell from heaven and utterly destroyed both cities for their wicked evil ways (Genesis 1924). 

    Psalm 75:8 tells us: For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and He pours out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. 

    Jeremiah 25:15,16 For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the Sword that I will send among them.”

    What is in the wine of God's fury, God's anger? Well, Jeremiah 25:16 says there is a Sword in God's wine; a Sword of ruin (vs 17). In this Cup is a Sword of judgment against Jerusalem and Judah and all the nations around them; against all the kingdoms on the face of the earth (vs 18-26). Isaiah 66:16 says many will be slain by The Sword of The LORD. 

    It is the Sword of war: destruction and desolation lay in its path. Whomever it touches dies and their bodies lay untouched, unmourned, unburied. Where they drop they remain until the birds of prey and wild animals devour their remains. 

    Jeremiah also tells us this Sword will first be poured out on Jerusalem (The City of Peace) and Judah (People of Praise). Judgment, The Word tells us in 1 Peter 4:17, begins in the house of God. Many who claim to be Christians, will receive their reward, their punishment, for the wickedness they brought into God's house. 

    Those who have set up carved images, idols, will be judged for their impudence against God and disregard for His Word. They who turn their hearts against God's Word and do not believe The TRUTH, who insist on listening to lies and fables, whose lives are guided by demonic spirits, will find the sword in their midst, destroying and tearing down everything it touches. 

    Witches, both "good" and evil, astrologers and they who follow them, occultists will be killed. The sexually immoral: fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, etc. will find that what they believed to be "good enough" is not even close to being good in God's eyes. Liars, thieves and braggards (the proud) will see that they were wrong. The Sword of The LORD will slay even these if they remain unrepentant and unchanged. 

   

    What is this Sword which is in the wine of God's Wrath? Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation and the Sword of the Spirit, which is The Word of God." And Zechariah 4:6 "Then he said to me, “This is The Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says The LORD of Hosts."

    The SWORD OF THE SPIRIT is THE WORD OF THE LORD. From the passage in Revelation 19:11-16 we find Revelation 19:15 "And out of His mouth goes forth a sharp Sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations; and He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the press of the wine of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty."

    The Sword of The LORD is fluid but not flexible. It is alive and capable of separating soul from spirit; it discerns our thoughts and knows our intents (Hebrews 4:12). It is a double-edged Sword (Revelation 2:12). It is sharp (Revelation 19:15). It is capable of dividing families: believers from unbelievers (Luke 12:51-53). All who war against God will be killed by The Sword (Revelation 19:21).

    While the believer lives and dies by The Sword of The LORD (Philippians 1:20; Romans 14:8), it is the unbeliever who will suffer most in the hands of The Living God Who wields The Sword.   

Blessed Be The Name of The LORD.

    In this Cup is wine made from rotten fruit (Joel 3:12,13), which will be poured out on all nations. Revelation 14:18,19 "Still another angel, with authority over the fire, came from the altar and called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, "Swing your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because its grapes are ripe." So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath."

    This Cup is not for me. I drink from the Cup of Blessing. Here am I to warn you, "Don't drink from the Cup of Wrath. Now is the time to take stock of your life and your soul. Today is the day to give your heart to God and believe that His only begotten Son Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Today is your day to repent of all your wickedness and pray The Spirit to show you in The Word of God how to turn your life around. Today is all we have for tomorrow is not a given. 

     Hebrews 3:7 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast. 

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness."

    Hebrews 3:12,13 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; But encourage one another every day, while it is called today, so that not one of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

CUP OF WRATH (songs I listened to while I studied)

    

The Cup of Blessing

 

The Cup of Blessing

PS 16:5

LORD, You are my Portion and my Cup of Blessing; You hold my future.

1 COR 10:16

The Cup of Blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

What is in the Cup of Blessing that we should desire to drink of it? What was in Christ’s Cup? 

PS 116:13

I will lift the Cup of Salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

PS 23:5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my Cup overflows.

The first sip we take is BETRAYAL. Betrayal is bitter when tasted. It dissolves loyalties and gives a false empowerment to the ones who have prepared to betray another person for whatever reason. People who have been with us will turn us into the authorities. Plus betrayal always involves some kind of reward. Judas Iscariot, the treasurer of Jesus’ following, was given thirty pieces of silver to betray The Teacher he followed. Money was more dear to him than people and greed won out over loyalty. 

Judas made the decision to betray Jesus before the Last Supper took place. But it was during the Last Supper that he followed through on his volunteering to betray Jesus. This wasn’t a random amount of money. It was an insulting value of services rendered for a prophet’s work. Zechariah 11:12,13; Matthew 27:9. 

The second portion of blessing in our cups is COMMUNION with Christ. Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30. COMMUNION is joint partnership, a sharing in of the work that is to be done. COMMUNION is fellowship with Christ, with God and with other saints. We cannot have communion with the world and the world’s many beliefs and gods. Nor can we have communion with unbelievers. 

COMMUNION requires steadfast loyalty: no matter how tough it gets we remain in Christ and He has promised to remain in us. John 15:4. 

COMMUNION with Christ demands Faithfulness on our part. Not just blind loyalty - following because we are compelled to do so - but eyes and ears open to the hearing of The Word of God and the receiving thereof. Job 42:5; Romans 10:17. 

COMMUNION demands holy living, a righteous lifestyle in Christ through The Holy Spirit on us. 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 1:15. 

COMMUNION demands loving obedience to The Truth. 1 Peter 1:22; 2 John 1:6; Deuteronomy 10:12,13. 

As we see the bottom of our cup, we are aware there are dregs in this cup. Dregs are the bitterest to swallow. They are the sediments or grounds left in the cup. In a societal sense dregs refers to some people as “worthless, the worst kind of people, the ‘undesirables’. This is our drink. 

We have been deemed UNDESIRABLE. For our insolence in rejecting the demands of this world, we will be hated: some of us will be arrested, judged, punished and even killed. Matthew 24:9-13; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:10-19. 

Jesus was an UNDESIRABLE to Israel’s religious leaders and council leaders. Isaiah 53:1-8; Matthew 26:57-68; Mark 14:53-65; John 18:19-24; 1 Peter 2:21-25. 

We will remain silent, as Christ before us remained silent in the presence of His accusers. The Lord’s Silence: Isaiah 53:7; Mark 14:61. Our Silence: Hebrews 12:3; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Peter 3:9.   

And, yet, it is brought to our remembrance by The Holy Spirit of God that the Cup of Blessing is ours to drink by choice and affiliation. We choose to believe God. We choose to believe and obey God’s Word. We choose to follow Christ Jesus wherever He leads us. We choose to love one another the way Christ loves us: unswervingly, unconditionally, unchangingly. We choose to drink this Cup. 

For in this Cup is our salvation: Psalm 116:13. In this Cup is our redemption. In this Cup is eternal life. For in this Cup is Christ: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Having drunk this Cup, though our bodies cease to exist, our soul lives forever; we will not taste death. “When we draw our last breath here, we draw our first breath in heaven.” ~ Rev. Billy Graham. 

And when we drink from our cup faithfully, our cup overflows into the lives of those around us. With whomever we come into contact with the contents of our cup is made known to them. Psalm 23:5. 

It is a Joy to drink from our Cup of Blessing. For the rewards of following Christ are to be enjoyed and shared. But woe to the people who drink of this Cup unworthily! For they will be punished for their arrogance and judged by God for their unfaithfulness. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. 

Are you ready to take hold of your Cup, lift it to your mouth and drink of your Cup of Blessing? You know your own heart. Only you can know if you are ready to drink of it. 

These songs went through me as I studied this morning:

 FILL MY CUP - Andrew Ripp (I've been singing this one since it came out)

WE ARE BLESSED - All Sons & Daughters (this one was on mental repeat)

MY PORTION - Isla Vista Worship (You must know by now how much I love this song)

 

A Crucified Life - - Is Called According to God's Purpose

 

    Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

    Many people have a tendency to omit parts of this verse in order to apply it to themselves. That won't work. It's like trying to put on an article of clothing only to discover it's ripped in places or permanently stained in obvious sites. 

    All things: good things, bad things; wonderful things, awful things; things that bring us joy and things that tear our hearts out. Things that bring us down and things that lift us up are working together for our good. 

    Not everything we put in a bread recipe tastes good on its own. Yeast, for example, smells good but tastes nasty. Yet, when it is included in bread it makes it lighter and softer; on the plus side it tastes great. Raw egg does nothing for me unless you add sugar and milk. Then I'll drink it.

    Before the seed can go into the ground, the ground must first be tilled. After the seed goes into the ground, it requires some form of fertilization to help it grow. It requires water and sunlight. It requires time to process before it can become food. Most raw grains are hard to digest on their own, but once ground and incorporated into a recipe, all grains become edible. Even rice needs to be processed before eating. 

   In the life of the born again believer, everything that happens to us affects us in some way, sometimes in many ways at the same time. Like being in the bowl of a stand mixer and not being in control of anything that is happening. 

    Divorce affects the family as a whole, tearing it up into smaller pieces and scattering it to the four winds. Finances are split or hidden. Children are left without a rootstock on which to build their own lives. Adults learn not to trust anyone. 

    Death of the ones we love is so very difficult. Even if we get to say, 'Goodbye' and 'See you in heaven', we leave them knowing we'll never hear their voice this side of heaven again. But not being able to say our goodbyes is just as difficult. We didn't know they were going to die that day. We didn't know we'd never be able to say 'I love you' again. Death tears a person's heart up, just chews it up and leaves it all crumbled on the floor. 

    But ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM WHO LOVE THE LORD. And I love The Lord! So He is incorporating the bad things (raw eggs) into the good things (sugar and milk) because I love Him and I surrender my life to His will, His purpose. 

    WE ARE THE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE

What is His purpose? Repentance (Acts 3:19,20). Salvation (John 3:16). Baptism by water and by Spirit (John 3:5). Live A Holy Life (1 Thessalonians 4:7; 2 Peter 3:11). Tells others about Jesus, God's Saving Grace (Mark 16:15). To Glorify God and Not Ourselves (Psalm 34:2,3). To Love Like Christ (John 13:34; Romans 13:10; 1 John 4:7-10). Plus all the other callings (Answering God's Calls) we have discussed over the last two months. 

CALLED ACCORDINGLY 

Thank You, Lord (for the trials that come my way) - Mary Ann Tam

Don't Let Your Heart Be Hardened - Petra

Midnight - TobyMac

Humble Thyself In The Sight of The Lord - Maranatha! Music

Walk With Me - Kim Walker-Smith

Welcome Holy Spirit - Oasis Worship

Spirit Break Out - Jesus Culture

Gotta Tell Somebody - Don Francisco

Love One Another - Newsboys

Holy Forever - Chris Tomlin

A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call To Be Born Again

 

    John 3:14,15

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up; that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. 

    Here in this passage of Scripture in John 3:1-21 we have the remembrance of Jesus' private visit with Nicodemus, a respected religious leader of that time. Every interaction with Christ is private, intimate, requiring only the individual and Jesus for the revelation of Truth to be imparted to the heart. 

And what is this Truth which only comes from Jesus Christ? Truth IS Jesus Christ. He is The Word of God come in the flesh (John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of Grace and Truth.").

He is The Truth (John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, "I am The Way, The Truth and The Life: no man comes to The Father, but by Me."").

    The Truth of Jesus Christ is the key to eternal life that unlocks the prison doors of our heart (John 8:32 "You shall know The Truth and The Truth shall set you free."). This Truth frees us from sin and death (Romans 8:2 "For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death."). 

    Romans 5:6-11

 (6)For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. (8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (11) And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

    So say I now: Look to the cross of Christ and believe that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, Who suffered and died for us that we might be saved from death, hell, the grave and the second death. Repent and be baptized and receive The Holy Spirit according to the promise of The Word of God. 

CALLED TO SALVATION 

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross - Keith & Kristyn Getty

The Way, The Truth, The Life - Celebration Music

Create In Me A Clean Heart - Keith Green 

You Saved Me - UPPERROOM

When I Lock Eyes With You - Maverick City Music

Abide In Me - Andrew Marcus

The Last Hour

 

        1 John 2:18

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

     As there are many that paved the way which leads to The Messiah's arrival, so, too, are there many leading the way to the antichrist, which is the opposite of everything Christ is. 

     Christ Jesus is Truth. The antichrist is a liar. Christ Jesus is Life. The antichrist is death. Christ Jesus is Hope. The antichrist is despair. Christ Jesus is Eternal Life. The antichrist is death twice over. 

    Which one do you believe and follow?

 Matthew 24:5

For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

Matthew 24:24

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

 1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.

Be Ready, Be Armed

    Romans 13:11, 12

And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

    1 Peter 4:7

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.