- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 2 min read
In preparation for our discussion over the next five days, please carefully read and meditate on these passages of scripture:
“Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!””
Genesis 28:10-16 NLT
“This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.””
Genesis 32:24-28 NLT
“Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.” So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan. Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother, Esau.”
Genesis 35:1-2, 6-7 NLT
I believe that many Christians have a mistaken idea of what their spiritual journey is to be.
Now sadly—for a variety of reasons we will discuss later—some never even begin their spiritual journey.
Over the next several days we will look at the spiritual journey through the lens of Jacob’s going from serving God as the God of Abraham and Isaac, to serving Him as the God of Abraham, Isaac, AND Jacob.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 5 min read
“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 12:25-29 NKJV
Some people will go to great extents, to far extremes, to attain power in this world. Yes, many people—past, present, and future—use force, intimidation, fear, whatever it takes, to lord over others and enjoy the perks of power.
Now, being in a position of power per se, is not wrong. Indeed, as we have discussed, throughout history the Lord has put people in positions of power in order for them to carry out His will. But, seeking power for power’s sake, is contrary to God’s way of being and doing.
“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.””
Matthew 20:25-28 NKJV
Yes, we are to seek the Kingdom of God, not our own kingdom or power.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 NKJV
Jesus didn’t come seeking power, He already had power.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”
Philippians 2:5-7 NKJV
As a matter of fact, in the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the devil offered Him rulership over all the kingdoms of this world. Jesus refused.
“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ””
Luke 4:5-8 NKJV
When the people were determined to forcibly take Jesus and make Him king, He refused.
“Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
John 6:14-15 NKJV
However, when Pilate was questioning Jesus as to whether or not He was a king, Jesus did not deny it.
As a matter of fact, Jesus confirmed that He was a King, but also made it clear that the source of His power, His rule, was not a function of the world system; it was not assigned to Him (or maintained) by men.
“Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.””
John 18:33-37 NKJV
Make no mistake, Jesus’ power and authority came from above.
“Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.””
John 8:21-24 NKJV
As we have been discussing over the last several days, we are seeing great turmoil and strife all over the world. Indeed, many forces, yes, forces of evil, are trying to forcibly exert themselves.
However, we do not have to be distressed. These things are not happening because God has somehow lost control of the situation. As Jesus said, these things must come to pass.
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
Matthew 24:6 NKJV
We are now seeing what our opening scripture references: the shaking of all things that can be shaken.
Please understand, the referenced “shaking,” doesn’t just mean affecting the stability of all things. No, it references the shaking OUT, or destruction, of anything that is not eternal.
The good news is, we are part of the unshakable, eternal Kingdom of God. As such, we do not have to be anxious as to who will end up ruling over us; we already know Him. Indeed, He is already our King!
Praise God! We have nothing to fear in terms of the stability of the power, rule, and authority of our King. Remember, the world didn’t give it to Him, and the world can’t take it away!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 3, 2023
- 3 min read
““During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.””
Daniel 2:44-45 NLT
Hezekiah was a good king. He was ruling over Judah, minding his own business, when the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, set his sites on Jerusalem.
Now, Sennacherib was high on his own supply and supposed that he would find Jerusalem as easy a prey as all the other surrounding kingdoms he had conquered.
After a campaign of threatenings and intimidation against the people of Judah, he sent Hezekiah a letter saying he would destroy Jerusalem just as he had all the lands in his path.
“After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God. “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.””
Isaiah 37:14-20 NLT
Hezekiah was confident that God would deliver Jerusalem. And—let me tell you—he was not disappointed!
““And this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “‘His armies will not enter Jerusalem. They will not even shoot an arrow at it. They will not march outside its gates with their shields nor build banks of earth against its walls. The king will return to his own country by the same road on which he came. He will not enter this city,’ says the Lord. ‘For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend this city and protect it.’” That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there. One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 37:33-38 NLT
Indeed, Sennacherib found out the hard way that no one can stand against the Lord! If He is determined to save, He-Who-is-Mighty-to-Save, will do it.
Frankly, the kingdoms of this world don’t stand a chance. As we discussed on “Day 173,” all other authority is a passing illusion and will one day be destroyed.
Now, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in which the Lord showed him all the main kingdoms of the world, from the Babylonian kingdom, moving forward through millennia, to the end of them all.
The Kingdoms were represented with a huge statue having a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed with clay. In the days of the “toe kingdoms,” something would happen to bring all the earthly kingdoms down!
In our opening scripture we see Daniel giving Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of the dream, in which, he describes that final Kingdom!
My friend, resistance is futile. The Lord’s Kingdom will smash all other kingdoms to pieces and then fill the earth! And, the King of that Kingdom is already OUR King: Jesus Christ!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!