5 Things To Make You Think
I heard a pastor mention these statements; they caught my attention. I have been thinking them out. There is WAY more information that needs to be said about each one, but I’m just going to give you a tidbit about each statement. Church needs to be churchie again, it’s time for church to be church again… We need to go back to the basics. What is going back to the basics mean? Us humans are the church. The church is NOT just a building we have a service at. I believe it means we go back to see what the Bible says the basics are. A few commandments come to mind… John 15:12 “So this is my command: Love each other deeply, as much as I have loved you.” TPT Another Version: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” NASB Another Verse: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34 NKJV Another commandment is found in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” So part of the going back to the basics are: We need to love one another as He loves us! We need to go make disciples! They are looking for Supernatural, but when the Supernatural is taken out of the church- they go looking for it somewhere else. What is supernatural in the church? Holy Spirit, signs, and wonders. In John 4:48 it says: “Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”” Romans 15:19: “In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” Jesus did miracles during his time on earth. Now, with the Holy Spirit living IN us on earth, we can do miracles too. Holy Spirit is an AMAZING person to learn about. That’s a blog/teaching in itself. If you want to read about Holy Spirit, He is ALL through the Bible, but Jesus talks about Holy Spirit in John 14, 15, 16 before Jesus ascends to the heavens to be with His Father. You may ask how people are looking for the Supernatural. Witchcraft is just ONE of the perverted versions of Holy Spirit. There are so many, many more things that are supernatural on the negative side. There are people looking for something different which is why they come to Church, but if the church isn’t different then why come? They want a change. The Bible talks about not conforming to this world, we are to be set apart. Rom 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 NKJV Why are our churches (us) conforming? Why are our churches (us) being deceived? To answer the 2 questions above; I personally believe because they are missing the intimacy with Holy Spirit. They aren’t in tune to the truth of the Bible and they don’t have ALL their armor on. We have an assignment- but our assignment has issues. Jesus didn’t let the issues stop him. Jesus did what His Father told him to do Jesus preached, He healed. When God tells us to talk to somebody, minister to somebody, be a mentor to somebody and that person has issues many of us might stop, think, and tell God “I don’t think so”. You may or may not know what’s going on with them but you can’t let THEIR issue stop you. Jesus told YOU to do it and there is a reason. Jesus, I’m sure was tired and sometimes didn’t want to keep doing what his Father told him to do; which was to preach and heal, make disciples and love, but He did it anyway. I’m sure there were days when He didn’t want to go walking through the city because he knew someone would need something from him, BUT He did it anyway, because he had an assignment that He had to walk it out. Final thoughts: We need to go back to the basics, loving others and making disciples. We need Holy Spirit in our churches. We need to stick to the truth and not conform to this world. We need to follow our assignment ALL the way through no matter the issues. I am going to leave you with this statement! In a broken world, are we really surprised the world is acting like the world?
The Tabernacle as a Picture of Christ: Part 1 – The Outer Court
The Tabernacle and all that was in it is a beautiful picture of Christ. Each piece of the Tabernacle represents a truth about our Messiah.
The Gates to Your Heart: A Biblical Perspective on Guarding What Matters Most
Did you know the Bible mentions gates over 400 times? But what do ancient city gates have to do with your heart? A lot more than you think! Discover how guarding the gates of your heart—your eyes, ears, and mouth—can protect your soul and invite God’s blessings. Let the King of Glory in!
Finding Jesus in the Old Testament: Understanding Jacob’s Ladder
Reading: Genesis 28:10-22, 31:3, 35:3, John 1: 47-51 In every book of the Old Testament, we find Jesus. We discover Him in creation, we call Him the last Adam, we see Him in the first sacrifice, and as the ark of salvation. He comes alive in the story of Abraham and Isaac, and we can also discover Him in the story of Jacob’s Ladder. Who is Jacob? Jacob is the son of Isaac and Rebekah and the twin brother of Esau. When Rebekah became pregnant, God revealed to her that she would bear twins and that the younger twin would rule over the older one (Genesis 25:23), setting up a power struggle that would continue with their descendants. This wrangling between the twins began in Rebecca’s womb, where they “jostled each other within her.” The younger son, Jacob, was born with his hand grasping the older son’s Esau’s heel (Genesis 25:22, 26). Names in the Bible have meaning; they are full of symbolism. Jacob’s name was no exception; it means supplanter or deceived. He lived up to his name when he took his brother Esau’s birthright as the firstborn son. Later, by tricking his father, he stole Esau’s blessing. Because of this act of deceit, Esau threatened to murder Jacob. Rebecca, to protect her son, convinced Isaac to send Jacob away to Harran to find a wife (Genesis 28:1-2). Beersheba to Haran Jacob’s journey from Beersheba to Haran was not an easy one. Unlike Esau, Jacob was not a man of the field; he was “content to stay at home among the tents” (Genesis 25:27). Jacob, not used to being away from home, must have been lonely and afraid. One night on this journey, he took a stone, laid his head on it, and fell asleep. He dreamed of a ladder that reached from the earth up to heaven, and on it, angels were going up and down. God stood above the ladder, 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.” Genesis 28:13-15 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he was encouraged and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it” (Genesis 28:16). Jacob knew about God’s promise of land, seed, and blessing, yet, at the request of his parents, he was walking away from this very promise. God reassured Jacob by reaffirming the covenant with him that He had made with Abraham and then Isaac. God told Jacob that He would bring him back, that he would not leave him until He had done what He promised (Genesis 28:15). Jacob’s dream was more than just a dream; it was a glimpse into a more profound truth, a truth that would culminate in the promised Messiah. Although Jacob may not have wholly understood what he was seeing, his vision would become clearer to future generations as God continued to unfold His divine plan of salvation. Reaching to Heaven The ladder in Jacob’s dream represented a divine connection between heaven and earth. Earlier in Genesis, we are told about a people who tried to make their own divine connection by building a tower reaching to heaven, a tower built through their own works. Their tower, called the Tower of Babel, never reached heaven because God scattered the people forcing them to stop constructing it. The exact phrase, “reaching to heaven,” used earlier in Genesis describing the Tower of Babel, is also used to portray the ladder Jacob saw in his dream. Joshua Bokel quoting Ed Clowney, says that the “stairway-tower of Jacob’s dream was God’s answer to the Tower of Babel. The top of it did reach to heaven, for God was the builder, not man. God alone establishes communication between heaven and earth.” Jacob’s Ladder Expanded Jesus certainly knew the story of Jacob’s ladder and, through his interaction with his disciples Philip and Nathaniel, further expands our understanding of Jacob’s dream. Philip and Jesus had just met. In his excitement, Philip found Nathanael and told him that Jesus was the one whom the prophets had written about and invited him to meet Jesus. “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, ‘here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit” (John 1:47). Nathanael immediately asked Jesus how he knew him. Jesus said that he saw him under the fig tree. Upon this revelation, Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” Jesus goes on to tell Nathanael, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Jesus is the Ladder Jesus, from the moment he met Nathanael, was alluding to Jacob and the story of Jacob and the ladder. Was it possible that Nathanael was reading the story of Jacob’s ladder when Jesus saw him under the fig tree? We don’t know. But Nathanael was moved by what Jesus said so much that he immediately knew that Jesus was the Son of God. When Jesus described Nathanael as an “Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” he was distinguishing Jacob and Nathanael. Remember, Jacob’s name means supplanter or deceived. Then Jesus continues referring