Jesus-theMessiah.com

Hebrews 4:12

“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Praise be the Lord in heaven on high! I would love to write more often, however, I can only write only as often as I feel moved or compelled by the Spirit. Today I feel compelled to remind us of the meaning of the word JOY.

J – thou shall love Jesus first
O – thou shall love others
Y – thou shall also love thy self

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Let’s test this against our foundation, our Holy Bible, inspired by God, written by men of God.

Mark 12:
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Amazing! Even our everyday language contains the the greatest commandments.

We do not always feel happy, but surely we can always feel joyful. There is a difference in the two, happiness is birthed by current life experiences. Joy comes from faith, hope and love. The opposite of happiness is unhappiness, but the opposite of joy really is fear.

Remember the Apostle Paul wrote many Books of the Bible whilst in jail (Philippians 1). However, we see Paul speaking of rejoicing even under these conditions:

Philippians 1:
Thanksgiving and Prayer
³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

Even in chains, Paul still found reasons to rejoice. He was not moaning about his condition, instead he remained confident in Jesus Christ and wrote of how much he loved his brothers and sisters.  Wonderful! May we all continue in the example set by this man of God, this steadfast man of God being moved by the Spirit of God (how else can we be children of God anyways). So with that, may we be moved by the Spirit in all things we do, and remain joyful, rejoicing in the Good LORD whether in comfortable conditions or discomforting ones.

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹²For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Hello folks,

We are now well “settling” into the new year. By settling, I mean where the draft of a  fresh start might be unravelling into a year that looks like it will be full of challenges. Perhaps even more challenging than 2010. If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you might be wondering where the Good LORD taking you with all this. The thing is, none of us are going to learn anything or get any closer to God if we’re comfortable all the time. Remember when Jacob wrestled with “a man” (Genesis 32:24); the two wrestled for a while, then at day break, the man requested that Jacob let him go, but Jacob insisted that he was first blessed.

Gen 32: 24″And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be assured that when our LORD challenges us, that a blessing is to come after the wrestle.

Phillipians 3:14 “I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah Jesus.“

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. That’s because during the fall, the enemy has been giving me some serious spiritual hits. So thus I have been drowning in a sea of self-pity and feeling of unworthiness. True, no one is worthy. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:“. However, this does not give us the excuse to reject God’s hand in our lives. The devil will use any tactic to destroy our relationship with God. I myself quite enjoy watching television and listening to music. The devil is so smart, he won’t just tempt us to watch something that is full of violence, foul language and the like. He’ll start of with media that just contains an ill here or two. That way, we’ll slowly fall back into corruption. Thankfully, greater is He the Holy Spirit Who lives in us Christians. It’s very important that we continue to read the Scripture and pray daily. It’s very important that we strive to maintain a relationship with God no matter what is going on in our lives. Even if we feel spiritually alive, still we should even press for more of God. Let us never get comfortable in our relationship with God. I ask that whenever we say the Name of God that we stop for a few seconds to contemplate on Who we are really calling upon. Imagine Moses, a great man of God hair turned completely white upon being in God’s presence. God is HOLY! The angels themselves proclaim it “And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” – Isaiah 6:3. Picture it for a moment. There is ultimate power in the God we serve, let us hang not only hang on to faith that He can, but let us also hang on to faith that He will. As surely as the Lord lives, “the LORD thy God, He [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations;“.

by: Daniel R. Vess

For the longest time, I was afraid to wear deodorant. That was back when it came in a can. On the back of the can was this warning: “Caution: may explode under intense heat.” I could just imagine going out to play basketball in the gym at school and working up an intense heat and having my arm pits explode. How embarrassing as all my teammates watched my arms hurling across the basketball court and missing a free shot. Well, I had to start wearing it if I was to have any friends, but I still had to keep them on the right side of me because my mother bought me Right Guard underarm deodorant. I didn’t have any Left Guard for the other arm.
The sense of smell is one of the powerful senses God has given us. Smell alerts us to danger, such as, a building on fire. Animals need the sense of smell to survive. Smell tells us when someone else is around. There are good smells like fresh bread out of the oven, or the smell of a little baby, and a new car. Then you have bad smells like sulfur or spoiled milk and other things, such as, stinky feet.
Do your feet smell? No! You smell with your nose. How do you smell? This is not a personal question about your body odor, but a inquiry into your spiritual aroma. Paul spoke about this to the Corinthians: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).

Stench of Sin and Death
Have you ever asked someone while driving down the highway, “What’s that smell?” Perhaps, you were passing by a sewage treatment plant, a paper factory or a dead skunk. We have all smelled the stench of a skunk Skunks can spray a distance of six to ten feet. However, its foul odor can be smelled by humans for up to 2.5 miles.
Spiritually, sin can spray us with its stench of death for eternity. This world is filled with the stench of sin and death. Solomon warned, “Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor” (Eccl. 10:1). Death is the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23), and all have sinned (Rom. 3:23). Therefore, everybody stinks.
In the resurrection of Lazarus, who had been in the grave for four days, we learn that he was not just dead, but he stunk (John 11:38_40). We are not just dead in our sins, we emit a foul odor to the nose of God. God is said to have sense of smell. If we play with dead things we will start to smell like them. Physical death has a distinct odor and so does spiritual death.
How can we remove the stench of sin and death? By victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ. Paul obviously had seen at least one Roman triumphal procession in his life. In the context, he is alluding to this tradition. After a Roman army would conquer a particular tribe or people, there would be a ticker tape parade. However, it was different from the ones that we know. After a great victory, the Roman senate would vote to give the conquering army and general a Triumph parade. First, rank upon rank of trumpeters would march by. Next came the older Roman senators, leading men of the city, such as, rich merchants, government officials, etc. Then came the army with intermittent wagon loads of spoil taken in victory. Finally, the hero and conquering general came riding in a chariot while wearing the garb associated with Jupiter: purple and gold robes. Alongside this procession were people swinging censers filled with sweet-smelling incense. Various bonfires would be burning here and there along the route. People would pour perfume into the flames so the smell of its fragrance would fill the air. Also, fragrant flowers would be cast by the spectators into the path of the parade and crushed by the hundreds of marching feet. At the very end of the procession the enemy prisoners would be executed.
This is illustrative of the great smell of victory that came when Christ arose victoriously over sin and death at His resurrection.

Aromatherapy
Not only can Christ help us with our past problem with the stench of sin and death, but He can help us as Christians to emit sweet-smelling aroma that will be pleasing to God.
Aromatherapy means “treatment using scents.” It is used to relieve pain, care for the skin, alleviate tension and fatigue, and invigorate the entire body. It has been said that certain scents can help with the body’s digestion, respiratory, circulatory and excretory systems. Some smells can relieve headaches, ease depression, and even help to improve memory. Doctors have found that a life without fragrance can lead to heightened incidences of psychiatric issues, such as anxiety and depression. The average human has the ability to differentiate 10,000 diverse scents. One Japanese firm reports that air scented with lavender cut keypunching errors by 21 %. Jasmine-scented air dropped errors by 33 %, and lemon in the air was even better by cutting errors by 54 %. Lavender reduces stress. Jasmine relaxes. Lemon stimulates. Odors do make a difference.

It is one thing to remove a bad smell. It is important to replace it with a new fragrance. Christ is the new fragrance in our new lives as Christians. “Therefore be followers of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1,2). Just as we are attracted by pleasant smells, so the smell of Christ’s sacrifice makes us appealing to God.

Just how does a Christian smell? We are recognized by how we smell! Do you smell like dead fish? If so, you must be a fisherman. The Christian emits (in a figurative way) the very smell of Christ’s sweet sacrifice. It comes out in our attitudes, actions and words. As we travel through life, we are sending a sweet -smelling fragrance to God in a world that otherwise stinks. For example, if someone comes around you and stink, your image is created of that person. Stinky people usually don’t have many friends. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to cover up that smell by doing good deeds or by being kind to strangers, or by helping little old ladies across the street.

To improve your fragrance you need Christ. Consider Christ’s visit to Simon the Leper’s home. The smell of lepers will turn your stomach. It is the smell of rotting flesh that is dying right on their bodies. A woman came and anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, and His presence changed the smell of the entire home of Simon.

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “To what purpose is this waste? “For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. “For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13. “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Matthew 26:6-13).

Washing
How do we remove the stench of sin and death from our lives? Those who have been sprayed by a skunk are told to soak in tomato juice. This is supposed to remove the smell. You can’t cover up the smell! You have to wash it away.
When sprayed by sin we must wash it way. Psalm 51:7 says, “Wash me, and I will be whiter…” One of the beatitudes of Revelation states, “Blessed are those who wash their robes…” (Revelation 7:14). When Ananias came to Saul of Tarsus to tell him how to remove the stench of his sin he said, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).

Stay Clean
After we have been washed, we can always go right back to the mud hole of sin and wallow in it. This is not only a possibility, it is most probable according to 1 John 1:8-10. Staying out of the garbage dumps of the world helps you not to stink again. What can we do when we sin again? Do we get re-baptized? No. As a child of God and a Christian, you can be cleansed of your sins daily by repenting, confessing and praying for forgiveness. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. … If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7,9).

Sweet-Smelling Worship
Another way to keep smelling good before the Lord is to worship Him in an acceptable manner. In Genesis chapter eight we see Noah coming out of the ark 377 days after the flood began. First, he built an alter to God. “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done” (Genesis 8:20,21). Was it that the Lord was pleased by the aroma of a burning animal? No. It was more so that the Lord was pleased by Noah’s heart of worship and his offering of worship to Him.

Living Sacrifice
During the Patriarchal and Mosaical Age, animals were sacrificed. Dead animals will not do anymore. Today, we as Christians are the sacrifice. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).The pleasing aroma of living sacrifice comes from the soul completely offered up to God.
Prayer Is a Fragrant Incense to Heaven
Prayer gives off a sweet smell to the Lord according to Ps. 141:2: “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” So, if you “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) you will never have to worry about your spiritual B.O
Ask others to tell you how you “smell.” This takes guts. Spiritual “B.O.” detracts from the message of Christ. Do you give off the fragrance of life or the odor of death?

Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late !!

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday
Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not
bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled
trees, Christmas trees… I don’t feel threatened.. I don’t feel discriminated
against.. That’s what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t
think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I
kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this
happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on
display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu … If people want
a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians
like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in
God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where
the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t
find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should
worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him?
I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who
are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew
went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little
different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to
get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked
her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Hurricane
Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response..
She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for
years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our
government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I
believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing
and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’

In light of recent events… terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.. I think
it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few
years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou
shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And
we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they
misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert
should know what he’s talking about.. And we said okay..

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t
know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their
classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I
think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s
going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what
the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread
like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people
think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles
pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in
the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your
address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think
of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what
God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it… no one will know you did. But, if you discard
this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world
is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben S.

Once upon a time, there was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He’s very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He loved his 2nd wife, too. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant’s confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant’s 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, “Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I’ll be alone. How lonely I’ll be!” Thus, he asked the 4th wife, “I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?”

“No way!” replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word. The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant’s heart.

The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, “I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?”

“No!” replied the 3rd wife. “Life is so good over here! I’m going to remarry when you die!”

The merchant’s heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, “I always turned to you for help and you’ve always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you out this time!” replied the 2nd wife. “At the very most, I can only send you to your grave.”

The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out : “I’ll leave with you. I’ll follow you no matter where you go.

“The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, “I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!”

We all have 4 wives in our lives. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it’ll leave us when we die.

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we’re alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material wealth and sensual pleasure. It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it’s a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than wait until we’re on our death bed to lament. 

Keep The Faith
(~Author unknown)