- araratchurch
- Oct 27, 2023
- 4 min read
“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””
Matthew 11:27-30 NKJV
The cross of Jesus Christ is what made our redemption possible. Yes, He died our death so that we could be restored to fellowship with God and live His new life.
Now, as we have been discussing, through Sin, man was lost, he was no longer capable of being led from his own heart by the heart of God.
Redemption made it possible for the Holy Spirit of God to dwell in us so that we could live the resurrected life of Jesus Christ.
Now, John the baptist spoke of the fact that Jesus would offer a baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire.
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11 NKJV
Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as being a good gift from the Father.
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!””
Luke 11:13 NKJV
As well, Jesus spoke of the gift of the Spirit on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
John 7:37-39 NKJV
John’s commentary on this event informs that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit Who would come when Jesus was glorified (when He returned to the Father).
As the time drew near for our Lord to be offered up, He began to speak to the disciples about what would happen after He was gone.
Indeed, Jesus told them that His going away was necessary for them to be able to receive the Helper, the Holy Spirit of God.
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
John 16:5-7 NKJV
Jesus explained to the disciples that the things they could not currently understand would be clarified to them by the Holy Spirit.
““I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:12-15 NKJV
In fact, before His ascension, Jesus instructed the disciples to wait in the city of Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
“Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.””
Luke 24:46-49 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see Jesus inviting us to come under His yoke; and that in doing so, we would be taught by Him.
Indeed, the yoke of Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit of God, the wonderful gift made possible for us to receive through the work of Jesus Christ.
We no longer have to live disconnected from the heart of God. Now the Holy Spirit of God can speak directly to our hearts, telling us everything we need to know.
We’ll talk more about this tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Oct 27, 2023
- 3 min read
““What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.””
Luke 15:4-7 NKJV
Man was created to have unbroken fellowship with God.
Tragically, that unfettered access was cut off when man chose to go against the instruction of the Lord.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.””
Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV
When man went against the command of God, death entered in. That is to say, he was now corruptible, and would die rather than living forever. As well, the shame of sin caused him to be afraid of the coming Judgment.
“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.””
Genesis 3:8-10 NKJV
Now man was cut off from knowing God’s heart. Therefore, the Lord would have true fellowship with only a few.
However, God could still know and see man’s heart.
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.”
Proverbs 20:27 NKJV
And, for the most part, the heart of man was seen by God for what it was: desperately wicked!
“The heart is deceitful above all things And it is extremely sick; Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives? I, the Lord, search and examine the mind, I test the heart, To give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 AMP
Praise God—through Jesus Christ—we are called back into fellowship with God!
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I Corinthians 1:9 NKJV
Indeed, the Lord Jesus became a way where there was no way, so that through Him—and only through Him—we can have Union with the Father.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
John 15:4-6 NKJV
In our opening scripture, we see Jesus describing His desire to find that which was lost.
Indeed, as we discussed yesterday, without Him, we were lost. But, through His work, we were found.
“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
I Peter 2:24-25 NKJV
Praise God, when the Shepherd of our souls picked us up, He put our ear against His heart. And, the heart we hear, is the heart of God!
Tomorrow we’ll talk more about how He made a way for us to hear His heart.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Oct 27, 2023
- 3 min read
“O Lord, I know that the path of [life of] a man is not in himself; It is not within [the limited ability of] man [even one at his best] to choose and direct his steps [in life]. O Lord, correct me [along with Your people], but with mercy and in just measure— Not in Your anger, or You will crush me and bring me to nothing.”
Jeremiah 10:23-24 AMP
When thinking about my father, one thing that always comes to my mind is that he never lost the joy of his salvation. Now, what I mean is, he never failed to react with deep, cheerful gratitude, when referencing what the Lord had done for him in terms of his own salvation.
I remember my father singing the song, “When My Savior Reached Down for Me”:
“I was near to despair when He came to me there
And He showed me that I could be free
Then He lifted me up out of Satan’s dark snare
When He reached down His hand for me
Chorus
When my Savior reached down for me
When He reached way down for me
I was lost and undone, without God or His Son
When He reached down His hand for me”
I still remember how he would illustrate the Lord’s reaching down for him, by putting his own large, wonderful hand down toward the ground, all the while crying tears of joy because of the depths from which the Lord had pulled him.
Yes, my father knew that he was headed to Hell, but had been redirected toward Glory through the mighty miracle of salvation.
I fully believe that the aspect of recognizing from what depths we were saved by the work of Jesus Christ, is lost in many modern churches.
You see, in an attempt to present a more “positive” message, what people need (in terms of salvation) is often represented as just a “sprucing up,” or a “bringing out of their best self.”
The reality is, we who are now saved, were all on our way to destruction; and, but for the grace of God through Jesus Christ, that would still be our destination.
As we remarked yesterday, it is tragic that many Christians—even spirit-filled Christians—tend to walk in their old ways of being and doing, never recognizing that the new life, the better way, comes by walking in consistent obedience to the Lord. We weren’t redeemed to continue walking in our old ways.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.”
Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV
Upon hearing the words of the proverbial writer that we should acknowledge the Lord in all of our ways, we may too quickly suppose that we’ve got that covered.
However, the sad reality may be that our idea of acknowledging the Lord in all our ways, is simply that we acknowledge that He exists, or that we express gratitude for the good things that come by His hand. But, that is not truly acknowledging the Lord in all of our ways.
The proverbial writer also instructed that we should be always reverent.
“Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”
Proverbs 28:14 NKJV
What being always reverent means is that everything we do is done within the context of the fear of God. That is, we eschew sin, while pursuing righteousness (God’s way of being and doing).
In our opening scripture we see the prophet Jeremiah acknowledging the reality that man—in isolation from God—is incapable of rightly ordering his own steps. Indeed, Jeremiah asks for the Lord’s correction to keep him from falling into the same judgment the disobedient children of God were experiencing.
Tomorrow we will look into how the Holy Spirit of God provides the ability to consistently pursue the path of righteousness.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!