We Heard, So We Now Have, The Prophetic Word Confirmed

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And WE HEARD this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. AND SO WE HAVE THE PROPHETIC WORD CONFIRMED, which YOU do well to heed as a light in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation (origin), for prophecy never came by the will of man (should never come that way) but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:16-20)

"Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John, and led them on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah' -  because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, Hear Him!' " (Mark 9:2-7)

"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, 'Write. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'  And he said to me, 'These are the true sayings of God.' And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'See that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant, AND OF YOUR BRETHREN WHO HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of (intent, reason for) prophecy.' "(Revelation 19:7-10)

Notice that the owner of the voice in RV. 19:7-10 is not capitalized. That means the speaker was not God nor Jesus Christ. The voice belonged to one of the  brethren who had been willing to hear and obey the testimony of Jesus Christ! That one rejoiced in those who were willing to "make themselves ready". The good news is, Peter continued to HEAR the Father's voice and align himself with the testimony of Jesus. So we should.

What Makes For Our Response?

"Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples: and He said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, "Why are you doing this?" say 'The Lord has need of it,' and immediately he will send it here. So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, 'What are you doing, loosing the colt?' And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded, SO THEY LET THEM GO." (Mark 11:1-6)

"So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations"? But you have made it a den of thieves.' And the scribes and the chief priests HEARD IT AND SOUGHT HOW THEY MIGHT DESTROY HIM,..." (Mark 11:15-18)

What makes for such a dramatic difference in response to His words?

Recently, my sister bought me a car. When I received the car, I didn't immediately digest the operator's manual. Why? Because I have driven cars for about 40 years. As long as it operated well without the manual information, I would be ok. BUT, any intricacy for this model I would be without, yet still driving the car. Jesus has been manifested to us, from the Father, for intimacy with Him. 

Those who stood around the colt when Jesus' words were relayed to them through His disciples responded favorably and immediately to His words. Clearly the scribes and chief priests thought better than what Jesus said. The difference is a heart responding from the measure of faith God has given as opposed to those whose measure has been covered over by the traditions of men, confident in what they think they know about Him. We must speak to this confidence as God reveals it to us, "Be removed and be cast into the sea!" 

Entering The Kingdom of God (Through The Eye Of A Needle)

"Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!' And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children (see verses 14,15), how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men IT IS impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.' "

Jesus' disciples were astonished: not only was a camel too big to pass through the eye of a needle, they were, too! If we make ourselves TOO BIG, through the prideful things this world admires, it is impossible. John the Baptist said, 'He must increase, but I must decrease' (John 3:30). Without question, no man can make this happen in you, only help you to see it. These words from God are made alive to us by the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. All glory to God!

Jesus addressed His disciples as children. Eleven of the original twelve who had left all and followed Him were continuing to receive the kingdom as little children would, following the Master. As they learned from above how to decrease themselves, they would fit neatly through the eye of a needle.  

"Oh Come All Ye Faithful"

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS:" (Ephesians 1:1)

"Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: (so) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come."(Ephesians 1:15-21)

Paul's prayer for the faithful in Ephesus was that their understanding be enlightened to know what is the hope of Jesus Christ's calling. Paul goes on to pray that the faithful in Christ Jesus understand that the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead was currently resident in him and those who understand Jesus Christ's calling and are believing, persevering with Him in it!

The Ephesian saints had made room for the foundational components of salvation: "after hearing the word of truth, the gospel of (our) salvation; in whom also, having believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13,14)

The FAITHFUL have to continue to COME, armed and strengthened with the understanding Paul's letter brings to light. Merry Christmas!

Profiting Through Trials

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lack wisdom (in this maturity towards completion), let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally (in this) and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything (else) from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:2-8)

I have mentioned in previous posts that faith from God becomes yours when you are seeking, knocking; hearing and acting in obedience toward that revelation received. It's time for the body of Christ to understand that the body's faith is one and the same as the Head's faith. He had to trust His Father: that with the crucifixion would come the resurrection to the Father's right hand. Within that faith in Jesus Christ, comes the Father's specific calling for our individual part in the body. Each cell in our physical bodies has the same DNA and receives benefit from the physical nutrition partaken of. Yet the cells within the spleen have a different function than the liver; a bony cell differs, in function or in usefulness, from the cells found in the eye. I am convinced that we in the body of Christ will not be as healthy, nor useful, as the Father would desire for us without a clear understanding and determination to persevere in our Master's faith. We in the body of Christ are not following a robot that couldn't sin, but chose not to based upon what He knew the Father had revealed to him.

"...to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (Hebrews 4:17) What Jesus Christ, as the son of Man, "knew" from his Father he never turned from, fulfilling the just-mentioned verse. You know, in the hours of trial in the wilderness, on the mountain to Peter, and in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus strongly resisted that which would cause him to sin, to the point of physical death, which was His calling.

If we are asking for wisdom, as the body of Christ, for he who is the Head, his calling, we will be like "the earth WHICH DRINKS IN THE RAIN THAT OFTEN COMES UPON IT, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated (those who yearn for the revealing of the sons of God), receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." (Hebrews 6:7,8) Same rain; same anointed faith; opposite responses. Let this provoke you to singular-mindedness in this: your calling, in the body of Jesus Christ, is as His. He is the author and the finisher of our faith! Be stabilized in His calling/your calling!  

Monitoring Righteousness

You may have seen this commercial. A robbery is in process at a bank. The robbers have commanded those inside to the  ground. All are, except the "security monitor" and the thieves. One of those on the ground looks at the "monitor" and says, "Aren't you going to do something?", to which the monitor says: "Oh, no, I am a security monitor; I let you know when a robbery is taking place"..............he then says,"A robbery is taking place". Those on the ground look at each other as if to say, "What good does that do?"

When I was in chiropractic practice, if an individual entered the office for answers/treatment regarding some sort of ailment, and I did nothing to assess or treat their condition, eventually they would consider my approach ineffective toward an expected end. Invariably, something has to be done.

The monitoring of righteousness in the body of Christ, mostly directed toward others and rarely introspectively, has been as unfruitful.  The apostle, Paul, says "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:24,25)

"THROUGH JESUS CHRIST our LORD! " He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with HIM freely give us all things?"(Romans 8:32) What things? Read Romans 8:31-39. Those things! Why? Anything worthy comes at a price.

"Finally, my brethren, REJOICE IN THE LORD. Rejoice in those things! For me to write the same things to you is not tedious (to Paul), but for you it is safe. (Philippians 3:1)

Do you want to know what you are called to? Death to your unrighteous

governance of your heart for resurrection in HIM. Monitor that! Then act! Paul prays for the Ephesian church: that they may understand what is the hope of HIS (Jesus Christ's) calling AND what are the riches of the glory of HIS (Jesus Christ's) inheritance in the saints (those who understand what HIS calling was and are willing to persevere with HIM in it). 

This truth we apply to ourselves! The thieves and the monitor, one wrong and one useless, remain standing in the commercial. Don't be caught standing in what you think is right. Let the Father show what life is, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST the LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. Apply these scriptural references and see just how fulfilling!

Vehement Cries to He Who was Able to Save Him from Spiritual Death

"who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him WHO WAS ABLE TO SAVE HIM FROM DEATH, and was heard because of His godly fear....." (Hebrews 5:7) 

It could be said that what Jesus prayed for, asking humbly of the Father with vehement cries, and was heard because of His godly fear, was to be saved from spiritual death. Surely spiritual death surrounded Him, most ardently among many of the Hebrews. He wanted no part of that! Most importantly, He knew what His calling was. If Jesus' cries to His Father had been to be saved from physical death, and the Father heard Him because of His godly fear, then along the way the Father changed His mind (which we know doesn't happen), for we know Jesus was called to physically die for Israel, and all men. No, Jesus humbly asked for the Father's empowerment to save Him from that which would destroy Him and doom mankind.

Jesus informed Paul, in a trial of the flesh which prompted Paul to plead with the Lord three times that "it" might depart from him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)  What empowered Jesus to complete His calling from the Father was His steadfast approach to Him (seeking to find), understanding that He could not finish without the Father and His Holy Spirit, He vehemently cried out to Him Who was able to save Him from spiritual death. Those Satanic temptations (Matthew 4:1-10), if He had succumbed, would have resulted in spiritual death for the Son of Man; that is why it came. But, our Lord was singularly focused on His Sonship from God!

His grace is sufficient for us! Each step toward it makes the Way, the Truth, the Life clearer and empowers those to rejoice in it with thanksgiving.