- araratchurch
- Nov 29, 2023
- 4 min read
“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.”
Matthew 27:27-31 NKJV
Job—even feeling he was not “deserving” of his awful plight—was willing to suffer the things being allowed by God. His response to his wife’s advice to “curse God and die,” is enigmatic to our human understanding.
“Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
Job 2:9-10 NKJV
Indeed, Job wasn’t suffering because of his wrongdoing, but because the Lord found him to be an exemplar of righteousness.
“Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?””
Job 1:8 NKJV
Yet, Job was faithful to God—even through his own suffering.
Then, we look at a statement made by Paul concerning his suffering, that also challenges conventional thinking.
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:7-11 NKJV
Indeed, Paul is anxious to share the “fellowship of [Christ’s] sufferings”!
In fact, Paul was living out what the Lord had said about Paul to Ananias.
“But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.””
Acts 9:15-16 NKJV
Paul knew that his suffering had great purpose.
“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
II Corinthians 4:8-11 NKJV
You see, Paul knew that Jesus’ suffering brought our redemption. He also knew that in order to truly partake of the new life Christ afforded, we must be willing to partake of His suffering.
Over the next few days, we will continue to look at the purpose of the “thorns” in our lives. It’s only appropriate, that we should have begun today by considering the fact that the Lord’s crown—as He poured Himself out for our sake—was made of thorns. Indeed, He gladly bore them, considering the work His suffering would produce.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV
Child of God, how can we shrink back from the suffering that comes because of our love for Him? No! We cannot shrink back!
Let us be encouraged knowing that just as Christ was not alone in His suffering, the Father being with Him, we do not suffer alone, Christ is with us!
Remember, Christ has already overcome the world. And if we stay faithful to Him, even through our suffering, we will share in His victory!
“Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.””
John 16:32-33 NKJV
We will consider more concerning our personal “thorns” tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 28, 2023
- 2 min read
In preparation for our discussion over the next five days, please carefully read and meditate on these passages of scripture:
“Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.””
John 16:32-33 NKJV
“For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
II Corinthians 12:6-10 NKJV
“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.”
Numbers 33:55 NKJV
““Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths. She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’ For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold— Which they prepared for Baal.”
Hosea 2:6-8 NKJV
““And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.””
Ezekiel 28:24 NKJV
Let’s face it, the “sign-up sheet” to be an overcomer is full, whereas, the accompanying sign-up sheet for having something to overcome has few takers. However, without having something to overcome, being an overcomer is impossible.
The fact is, we can turn stumbling blocks into steppingstones. Not only that, we can also use them to form a ladder to the next level of operation in the Spirit!
Over the next five days we will look into the necessity, and indeed, the blessing of resistance in our lives.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 19, 2023
- 4 min read
““I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.”
Hosea 14:4-7 NKJV
As we set out to do, this week we have employed the story of Israel’s backsliding as a lens through which to see the way to return to the Lord, as well as the benefits of doing so. We also have considered the terrible consequences coming with not returning to Him.
Before concluding our investigation (for now), we must address what will be the ultimate return of Israel.
Ignorantly, some people suppose that God has once and for all, cast Israel off. Indeed, some maintain that Israel has no “special” place anymore in the plan of God. However, in this assumption, they are greatly mistaken.
Given, Jews must receive Christ to inherit eternal life, just like anybody else. And, they no longer have exclusivity in terms of the promises of God. However, Israel is still special to God; indeed, Jerusalem will be an important seat from which the Lord will rule and reign…forever!
As well, the culmination of God’s plan for putting an end to all evil rule will be initiated when the Lord returns to fight for Israel.
“In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
Zechariah 12:8-10 NKJV
Yes, those nations who set out to finally annihilate Israel, will find that they have come to be destroyed by the Lord Himself.
“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.”
Zechariah 14:1-4, 12 NKJV
Now, Israel ceased to exist as a nation for millennia. But, in 1948, Israel was “born” again. Since that point in time they have lived under the threat of total destruction from the Muslim nations surrounding them.
Since the October 7th terror attacked by Hamas, we are seeing antisemitism being exposed all over the world. Sadly, some of our own members of Congress are leading the antisemitic rhetoric. Indeed, many of our “prestigious” universities are a hotbed of Jew-hatred!
We can now clearly see how the whole world will be gathered against Jerusalem.
But, make no mistake, Israel will return to the Lord and be restored. As Christ died and was raised up on the third day, Israel, seemingly in its death throes will be raised up!
“Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.”
Hosea 6:1-3 NKJV
And, yes, King Jesus will fight—and win—their final battle!
In our opening Scripture we see God’s promise to bestow great blessing, prosperity, and peace, on Israel when it returns to Him.
Part of the good news for us is that we are already living in the blessing of God through Jesus Christ. And, daily, if we will turn away from our own way of being and doing and completely trust in Him, though He may not appear badly in the midst of our struggles, He will most certainly fight our battles. Yes, He will defend us; and He will win!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!