"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands....Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come....For we live by faith, not by sight." (From 2 Corinthians 5, NIV)
For the "oh-I've-read-that-before" people who no longer can receive these Words, which are the very Breath of Jesus, and be empowered by them because they need something they call "new" or "fresh," I feel sorry. Nothing is newer and fresher than He Who is, "The Word of God." Jesus is alive, very present and living in everyone who has surrendered his/her life to Him. Nothing and no one is more "up-to-date," timely, relevant, practical, you know, all those whatever-they-mean words which people love to throw around.
Some may have wondered what the purpose is in sending a video with someone just reading Scripture. Answer? Scripture, the Bible, the "God-Breathed" Word, He Who is Life Himself, Jesus, saved my life, and still is saving me. Time does not heal. Time does not "make things better." Only Jesus heals and makes things not better, but best. "Jesus," Who is, 'the Word of God,' is my Light and my Salvation.... Jesus is the Strength of my life....One thing I have desired of the Lord Jesus, (remember there are not two or more "Lords;" there is just One Lord from Genesis to Revelation) that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of Jesus all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jesus, and to enquire in Jesus' temple." David realized, as do I, that one moment without Jesus, one moment without Jesus' Indwelling Presence, one moment without Jesus' Grace and Sustaining Mercy, and I'm nothing, gone, a vapor.
Now some may think this sounds fatalistic. You know what? They are right. Life is hopeless and "predetermined" to emptiness out of Jesus Christ. Life is powerless out of Jesus Christ. Life is an abyss out of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, however, life is Life. Life is Hope. Life is Power. "I am...the life," Jesus said, and still says to the human race. As we read yesterday, Jesus is the very Face of God Himself. Jesus removes the faceless god of man's wonderment, i.e., "puzzled interest." When anyone, as Moses, saw God, they saw, "Immanuel, God with us." Who do people think appeared in the blazing furnace with the three Jews who refused the king's threats? He is the same One Who Is right there with you, now, right here with me, now. Even better, right there in you, right here in me.
Father, in Jesus' Name, nothing with You is ever old. Amen.
For the "oh-I've-read-that-before" people who no longer can receive these Words, which are the very Breath of Jesus, and be empowered by them because they need something they call "new" or "fresh," I feel sorry. Nothing is newer and fresher than He Who is, "The Word of God." Jesus is alive, very present and living in everyone who has surrendered his/her life to Him. Nothing and no one is more "up-to-date," timely, relevant, practical, you know, all those whatever-they-mean words which people love to throw around.
Some may have wondered what the purpose is in sending a video with someone just reading Scripture. Answer? Scripture, the Bible, the "God-Breathed" Word, He Who is Life Himself, Jesus, saved my life, and still is saving me. Time does not heal. Time does not "make things better." Only Jesus heals and makes things not better, but best. "Jesus," Who is, 'the Word of God,' is my Light and my Salvation.... Jesus is the Strength of my life....One thing I have desired of the Lord Jesus, (remember there are not two or more "Lords;" there is just One Lord from Genesis to Revelation) that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of Jesus all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jesus, and to enquire in Jesus' temple." David realized, as do I, that one moment without Jesus, one moment without Jesus' Indwelling Presence, one moment without Jesus' Grace and Sustaining Mercy, and I'm nothing, gone, a vapor.
Now some may think this sounds fatalistic. You know what? They are right. Life is hopeless and "predetermined" to emptiness out of Jesus Christ. Life is powerless out of Jesus Christ. Life is an abyss out of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, however, life is Life. Life is Hope. Life is Power. "I am...the life," Jesus said, and still says to the human race. As we read yesterday, Jesus is the very Face of God Himself. Jesus removes the faceless god of man's wonderment, i.e., "puzzled interest." When anyone, as Moses, saw God, they saw, "Immanuel, God with us." Who do people think appeared in the blazing furnace with the three Jews who refused the king's threats? He is the same One Who Is right there with you, now, right here with me, now. Even better, right there in you, right here in me.
Father, in Jesus' Name, nothing with You is ever old. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
