January4 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:2:13-18 EGYPT - Events and situations are already beginning to form around the young child before He says or does anything; before his first steps most likely. These movements are based solely upon what He might represent to others. The faith of Jesus here is seen in what He had consented to before hand. Unlike any other religious icon Jesus came to be tested and to be proven to/by those who He came save. He would not become savior just because He declared Himself so, not because of some vision under a tree meditating on nothingness or some collection of thoughts gazing into the vastness of the night sky, but, because the Father submitted Him to our doubting suspicious manipulating tests. Anyone could portray themselves to be from God, only one could be proven starting even before He was barely conscious and absolutely powerless, totally in the hands of His Father. This is the Faith of Jesus, what He consented to. This is what makes His faith different from any other. This is what we need to find and keep within ourselves as well.
January6 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:3:1-12 THE BAPTIST JOHN - The old prophecies fulfilled are beginning to flood forth. John is now a fully reasoning and consenting adult and so is Jesus. John is sent to prepare the way for Jesus and the way is through repentance. Jesus is relying on the timing of the Father in order to kick off His active ministry. God's timing is likely based upon the Levitical shadow or type regarding the Passover Lamb and it's requirements. He is close to beginning the time of inspection. The preparations made these millenniums are many and exact, just as the requirements of the role Messiah; they are not just anything some ambitious wanna be wants them to be. Jesus is prepared to go up against every imaginative preconception (and there are many even amongst the most devoted and zealous) to achieve His Father's will. It is His faith. Is it ours?
February17 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:12:15-21 MY SERVANT - Matthew ties a quote from kjv@Isaiah:42:1-4 into the reasoning Jesus did not want the people to make Him known. It appears to revolve around the judgment that He intends to shew to the Gentiles and the plots that are beginning to solidify from the Jewish leaders. Israel and His covenant to them remains in His heart but, not everything He does is strictly for Israel. In a sense Israel will have to come around in the future to this understanding of revelation and in great measure the Gentile nations will be used to drive them to this conclusion. For now, everything He does, every act of mercy, every piece of indisputable logic, every revealing parable only goes to anger them all the more. Their minds are now set against Him. Jesus does not snap, does not get unruly, does not turn away, His judgment is crisp and clear and evident and victorious to all honest observers. The faith of our Lord is not only in the past and the present, but, in the future; how pieces all come together as a whole. Words and deeds are one thing. The examples He lays out another. How they all play out in the end, that is the beautiful thing; the miraculous thing that can only be done by this God's servant and the spirit place upon Him.
February20 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:12:46-50 STANDING WITHOUT - Is Jesus saying that His mother and siblings are not doing the will of the Father at present? What were they going to tell Him? That they were being followed every where they go? That strange cults were beginning to develop outside the house regarding Mary? Was the public's curiosity making carnival acts out of their own lives? Were they projecting their own stress upon Jesus and asking Him to come home, rest, let things cool down? Were there threats circulating? It would all be conjecture, but, surely their quiet lives have been burdened as well. This lifestyle is not anything that they would have chosen themselves, at times it may have even been understandable for them to resent. Jesus is not pushing them away, He is desiring for them to come along side. He is asking them to consider the larger picture, the adoption of a great many into the brotherhood of the kingdom. The faith of our Lord regards many issues as one; it all comes down to obeying the will of God. It would be easy to be pulled aside by this problem or this concern or that wise motherly counsel. His followers must be able to follow along with Him even through the impossible and uncertain as much as is both humanly possible and spiritually empowered. Without this frame of mind we too could find ourselves outside the crowd insisting to advise Him on something that in the grand scheme of things is of little consequence.
March13 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:18:1-9 CONVERT AND BECOME AS - Follow the question from beginning to end; it remains 'who is the greatest'. The child is the symbol of a true believer, converted and becoming, the offender one who thinks himself greater or greatest, that he holds special rank or position there. The hands, feet and eyes aren't the cause of thinking oneself greater they are merely the means of action. The action is an attempt to trap or entice others to their point of view. Such offenses are sure to come, they were occurring even amongst His own disciples, but, woe to those by whom the offence comes. Think of what actions you might come up against that are intended to entice you into attempting to raise your position better or best in the kingdom as well, most are legalistic. When Paul addresses similar humility it is as opposed to the offences of legalism as well. Hands feet and eyes then are trying to impose legalism in many of these cases. How does best or greatest have any regard to a child who only yearns for the sense of family and belonging and safety? What type of kingdom is it where legalists only seek to out do each other and make others to behave the same? Who is the greatest is a selfish question with a unpleasant trap door. The faith of our Lord is in a kingdom comprised of family, of belonging, of inclusion, of joyful community experience. Unless one converts their way of thinking and becomes like a kingdom child in thought and action one very likely will not fit into the type of kingdom Jesus has awaiting, many may not be allowed or even permit themselves enterance therein. Like a child we have much to learn, much to be part of, and much joy to experience from our loving Father.
May12 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:3:20-30 - The friends close to Jesus suspect the toll of this ministry on a man to be greater than it actually is on Jesus. Perhaps they are beginning to feel the wear on themselves. Jesus had just returned from a prayer filled time of reinvigoration and reorganization; did they? Jesus' daily life was filled with such moments even in the midst of such business; was theirs? Even when the day became too busy and too crowded even to eat, Jesus would spend entire nights soaking in the Fathers communion; did they? Those that oppose Jesus never seem to tire because there are so many of them coming from so many directions; an endless supply of them so that one individual never has to tire. Add to it that even for one opponent it is so much easier to portray a foe in a negative light than it is to advance the cause and work of the much better light. At this point opponents don't have to reason nor defend what they are saying, just throw it out there like a sniper then run and hide till the next. Eventually the opponent however comes to the point where He has discounted the integrity and work of the Holy Spirit to such a measure that he either passively or vigorously aligns his own self with the workings of the Devil. If the Spirit is working to establish Jesus as Messiah and you are working against that, well matters have become quiet grave for you mister junior devil. Some people might do this for a time, come to the realization of who Jesus is and then repent. For those who continue on however, repentance and salvation are far from reach. What forgiveness from damnation would one ever hope to have? This is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, not finding repentance, not allow the Spirit's work to continue inside of you. The faith of our Lord is well reasoned, though we may not allow ourselves to see it as so. Friend's think He is beside Himself, enemies think that He is an agent of Satan, neither of which can defend their statements. Not only is He in line, He does everything spiritual to keep Himself in line. Do we?
June7 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:10:1-12 BUT FROM THE BEGINNING - This is a planned attack by the Pharisees. Somewhere along the way they have counseled together, decided, put out talking point directives to all that would come in contact with Jesus. These may be hired guns as well, men that are directed to seek out and trip up Jesus. It is obvious by what they are going after and the number of times that they have posed the same type questions that they believe that this is their best play. How would this be a no way out for Jesus? Is there really such unanimity amongst the sects regarding divorce and the law that all would disagree with Jesus' analysis? No, there is such hardened inflamed public sentiment about anything restricting to their personal freedoms and desires. The Pharisee have a less restrictive view of divorce and they want to make use of that to turn public opinion against Jesus and toward themselves. The same trick may have been used against John the Baptist. He told them what the law really meant, called them vipers to their face, and got in fatal trouble with the Herods for it. Why not try the same? Essentially, the hardness of the Pharisees is being used to stir or play the hardness of the people against the correct interpretation of the Law boxing Jesus into a corner. This is a much bigger test/temptation for Jesus that we today perceive. Jesus instead goes back to the beginning intention, Man, Woman, in God one flesh; hard to argue against that. If it were not for the hardness of a couples heart one or both toward the things of God they would have remained such. Now they make living together a living hell and their hearts harden all the more. If allowance had not been made in these cases the hardened would lash out all the more and take society down with them. The Law then can be used in at least two opposing ways, one as a warning against hardness or two as an easy justification for divorce. Jesus does not call them a broad of vipers, but, does make it known that the hardness of couples to the designs of God and hardness of the religious towards the true intents of the Law were not going to box Him into a place that truth can't still get out. The faith of our Lord is in the spirit of the Law as the spirit addresses the hardness of mankind complete. Without the Law we would not know our sin, knowing our sin makes us to resist and to sin all the more. Only being one with God through Jesus Christ makes us one flesh man to women and one with the spirit and design of all things.
June16 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:11:27-33 ANSWER ME - The Sanhedrin seem to be caught in a trap with both prophets. They do not answer Jesus because of what the people think of John, at the same time they are not arresting Jesus outright because of what people might think of Him. However, there are too many minds at work here for this to be their tactical blunder. They are banking that if they do not tell then He won't tell. Jesus is banking on the same. Both are banking on what will best connect with the people. Stalemate works to both's advantage. The chiefs had only to connect to the crowd of that day. Jesus had to connect with the crowd of all time. Both may have accomplished their objectives. Opinion is beginning to sway. Within the next day even some of those leaning toward Jesus will retreat and even disdain. For them the temple stunt and the rough talk about their leaders may have gone too far. You have heard the adage "winning the battle but, loosing the war"? The faith of our Lord is battling a much bigger war than just those who oppose Him. This battle He wins, all battles He wins, they are just not aware of it yet. By thwarting His will they are playing right into it.
June24 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:13:32-37 TAKE HEED, WATCH AND PRAY - Sleeping seems to be the natural gravity spiritually; if nothing else you will be doing this. Something must be done to counter and reverse this momentum/tendency. The Son of man has left and given authority to His servants, this does not appear be enough. He has given His work to every man and that doesn't appear to be enough. He has commanded the porter to watch and that doesn't seem to do the trick. If the Lord had not tarried so long there would have been less chance at sleeping so long but, there would not have been the chance to be awakened as long either. So if the answer is for each man/all men to watch and to pray, what is it that each man/all men should be praying? What is it that he/they should be watching for? His coming. Consciousness. Alertness. Awakening. Being lead away from the temptation to sleep. Having the strength to persevere through it. To know the riches of His inheritance is, what is the hope of His glory. Think of all the times Paul and Peter shared what they were praying for us and how much of it had to do with the Lord's coming and what that could mean to us today. Few around you today are awakened, many are in need of constant re-awakening, if you are going to be like them you are going to be asleep just the same. You are likely to suffer plenty abuse from those who you try to awaken. That doesn't mean that you settle back to sleep. It is important that the Father approached the time frame of the end secretly. It says a lot about the trust and faithful obedience of our Lord and the faith of our biblical forefathers. The faith of our Lord knows the heart of man and how best to move it, knows that there will be only a certain amount of time before the end (great beginning), knows to trust the Father in the exact timing. It all works out in glorious fashion!
July12 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:1:57-66 FEAR CAME - It began with neighbors and cousins, it spread to all those that heard from them. It happened just as the mysteriously muted Temple priest wrote. Now you may not take notice when priest claims to have been visited by an angel. You are more likely to notice when he comes out unable to speak. You may not notice when a women passed her years has a child. You are more likely to notice when she is married to the muted priest and he claims that the angel foretold it to happen. Maybe you are not convinced until the couple name the child a non traditional name meaning "the grace and mercy of God" and suddenly the priest can again talk. So you are at least curious are you not? What else does the priest have to say? That the child comes in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the immediate way of the Lord? What manner of child will this be? Perhaps you are still not convinced but, you are likely to keep an eye on all this. Your reaction and the reaction of the others around you make you to fear. God does not just speak in words, He also speaks in motions and momentums. He produces curiosities and curiosities produce responses and responses produce environments and environments make for fear. Fear is the beginning of knowledge. Thirty years from now when the ministry of this John comes to a head and this John declares the son of the Mary (remember who spent three months with his mom Elizabeth early on) to be the "Promised One" enough people by then have been moved far enough along over the course that God can produce a larger fear nation wide. John then prepares the way of the Lord by what he says yes, but, also by what he has become and represents. The faith of our Lord is in supreme clarity objectively but, He often uses the noise of many others spreading abroad along with the focus of a few to bring that clarity about.
July31 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:6:17-26 REJOICE IN THAT DAY - Are you rich? Are you full? Do you laugh? Are these themselves bad things? Salvation is based upon holding Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. His death upon the cross is our death to sin, His Resurrection the beginning of our new spiritual life, His ascension confirmation of His heavenly reign. To not hunger for His truth, to laugh alongside His many scoffers, to be rich with all the treasures of this earth yet minus His grace is a woe most threatening indeed. To be poor in spirit however, to hunger for His truth, to be weeping where there is chiding, to be reproached even cast out for His sake, in this there is a kingdom sized blessing. Who are these rich according to Jesus? Their fathers doing is the key. Who so treated the prophets of old? The so called religious leaders of Israel. Do I have to fear if I am a rich kid from America? If I let it effect me like it did the Scribes. Do I have any to fear if I am a poor kid from the streets of Calcutta? If I let it effect me like it did the Scribes. Jesus speaks this as He is healing the multitudes one by one. He is looking up to His newly confirmed main disciples. What a sight it must have been for them to see; what a lesson. The prophets were right as evidenced here this day. These men too will be right, prophets in their own respect. Look though at how the right are treated. What does this tell us about man? What does this tell us about man's religion? It is rich, it is full, it is spoken well of, but they have already received their consolation. The faith of our Lord is in the broken and hungry and mournful heart. This heart is the starting point for something big, something that fits into an even larger eternal kingdom the type of which has not yet entered our minds; well worth the fiery trails of this present earth to be part of.
August20 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:9:46-50 FORBID HIM NOT - The name of Jesus alone is enough to cast out devils in the hands of one whom has the firm faith. Where this man heard of Jesus we do not know. He may have even been healed somewhere down the road; it is just not said. The disciples are not only seeing things as "who is great and greater", they are seeing things as "us and everyone along with us". It may have been a good point to interject some "why does he not follow us yet does all this". Surely it is important for Jesus to establish these twelve men as His primary disciples, especially in view of the written testimonies some will write that will be canonized. He must establish order and unity. At the same time it must be encouraging to Him that some are beginning to figure at least part of His kingdom message and authority. The disciples had been given authority and did well except for the once. This man is concluding that the name of Jesus is enough authority combined with faith to do the job as well. Think of how much authority the disciples would have if they just latched on to both facts. The faith of our Lord is in these twelve (eleven) men to establish them in the true faith. At times it may involve the illustrations of others' faith to draw them out and challenge them.
September16 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:16:1-15 WISER THAN CHILDREN OF LIGHT - Being wise did not make the unjust servant just. It got him no further than a commendation and an awkward place in a parable. So what is it that Lord is commending and wanting us to see as the example? Spiritually speaking, is the steward in the business of collecting other's debt or relieving it with the Lord's goods? The difference between being just and unjust may come down to the man's perception of this very point. The oddity of this passage is that He says "when ye fail". Servants will fail their Lord; fail in the small things, fail in the large. Many fail for fear of failing. Many will fail for letting the others skate by or trying to collect from the for one's own gain instead of applying the goods toward full relief (two masters). Failure apparently is tied into which of the two possible directions men most esteem. We often limit ourselves into being failures instead of risk our way into successful obedience. Risk may be at times going against that which is more esteemed. The faith of our Lord is much about our stewardship of His goods in service to His business interests here on earth. There is a debt that many others still owe. It is the stewards job to take the spiritual goods of the Lord and relieve the spiritual debt of the others. If His goods are wasted on something else then the steward will be called to accounts and his stewardship may be at jeopardy. We are the Lord's stewards just as this man was. Our best advantage is to be trust worthy at all times beginning with the smallest things including mammon. At various times we will fail that calling (wasting or re-purposing it mainly). Our second best advantage is to go back to proper stewardship of goods versus debt and at least do something in that direction. There is also the danger of despising the service to the Lord because of what it takes away from the more pleasurable forms of wasting and profiting and worldly esteem.
September19 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:17:1-10 FAITH AS A MUSTARD SEED - What does this mustard seed size faith look like? Does it not look like the servant simply plowing or feeding the cattle at his master's command? Doing that which is our duty to do? So if in the course of doing that which we commanded an obstacle outside of our control was in the way of us performing that assigned duty, because we are ultimately doing the task as told, we could if need be demand to the obstacle that it remove itself and it would. The faith is in the master and accomplishment of his command. The obstacle moving is only that, it is yielding to the master's authority. How else does the faith seed look? It is operating in forgiveness inspired by the forgiveness of our Maker upon us. Regardless of the number of times called upon it is given. Rebuke in many cases is wise (see: Proverbs), but forgiveness always required. It is not a matter of taking heed to the offender, it is taking heed to one's self. It may be better for the gross offender to be drown in the sea (similar to where the obstacle was removed), however that offender could well be you if you were not to forgive. Should we think that we are owed a reward from the Master for performing this faith consider that is only doing that which we had been commanded. Many people would think of this mustard seed faith as a positive energy or strong willed determination. If so, could not the offending man in the sea say to the millstone "be thou removed", climb the sycamore tree back out to safety, then call upon you to forgive him another 499 times? The faith of our Lord is in the obedience of His servants to the tasks He has assigned. If something/someone stands in the way of them performing that task, He has given them the authority to move many of these obstacles without having to go back and get His permission another time. It is nothing special or out of the ordinary if you knew the authority of this Master. The elements of faithful obedience (even the beginning seed) to the assigned task has to be present however. That is why this is told to His disciples.
October9 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:22:1-6 THEN ENTERED SATAN - There are many actors on the stage at this time including Satan, but we need to make it perfectly clear who is directing the action. There is one thing happening, perhaps best described in kjv@Isaiah:53. This time now is between the Father and the Son. The rest is a side show. It is pleasing the Father to put the Son Jesus to this. These men believe that they have the power to make things happen. Even Satan thinks that he is getting one over. Nothing of the sort! If God's will was anything other God's will would be done. God had plenty opportunity to remove Judas. He had plenty of opportunity to strike down these chiefs and scribes. He had plenty of time to move Jesus to a safer location. Jesus knew it was Judas that would betray Him from the beginning kjv@John:6:64, knew that he was a devil kjv@John:6:70, knew that he was stealing from the purse kjv@John:12:6. Choices were made by Jesus all along in obedience to the Father's will that have led Him to this. All of these men have had choices as well, except they chose to play the part of wickedness. They have played their chosen part well, but it is not their show; they are not directing the action they are merely responding to the script. The faith of our Lord is not in worrying or keeping track of who is who in this passion or who is doing what. It is all the Father. It is all the plan. It is all in the Father's hands.
October23 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:1:1-18 TO BEAR WITNESS OF THE LIGHT - This is one of the most fundamental doctrinal statements of the scriptures. If you only had one page on a deserted island this might would be one of the best to have. It speaks volumes not only into our doctrine, but implies Jesus faith going in. He has been with the Father all along from the beginning. He had made appearances to man several times previous to becoming flesh and became flesh knowing that His own people would receive Him not. There is a stark contrast between light and darkness that His intention is to lighten. It took much work to come to this point in the plan where He would arrive and there will be much to be done the time that He is here. Even doing so we still not comprehend. It appears that these things are not within our capability, but only for the will of God. It then holds that He is coming to do what it is that He will do in order to purchase the right later for the will of God to fully operate on us toward belief. Purchase first then the work toward acceptance. Our acceptance then will be much as it has been prior by the testimony and witness of men regarding what has been performed and what it means in the grand scheme. The faith of our Lord (the Word made flesh) is in the work of the Father's will upon the hearts of men brought about by the purchase of that opportunity.
October27 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:1:43-51 BECAUSE I SAYETH...THOU BELIEVEST? - We are beginning to see more of Jesus' nature and temperament now. Nathaniel could have made the Galilee comment in jest or he could have actually meant it, but Jesus first greets him saying "a man with no guile". If guile is meant as subtlness, no Nathan does not seem to be subtle. If it means deceit, Nate doesn't hold his perceptions back. If to mean craft, he does not have the craft of diplomacy. If either translation is the understanding then I see Jesus humorously matching wit with Phillip's friend here, using Nathaniel's tone to introduce His. Jesus himself has no guile, He will always come right to the heart of the matter, but amongst friends He'll make it clear in a form that they can more easily digest. Here it is humorous wit and a touch of "how did He know that" that has pointed Nathan to the essential beginnings of his belief; not in the things already done, but what they suddenly mean deep down and the anticipation of things ahead yet to be believed/seen. The faith of our Lord will be very transparent, open and on display for all that want to see, but so will the faith of the others around Him. For them the unfamiliar will become inviting and friendly, the unknowable will become trust-able, all creation itself will be observed as reverent and compliant to His greater majesty. For Him the growing and transformative faith of these and others will become more outwardly evident, receptive, fruitful to His purposes. Their faith is already drawing quite a gathering of other seekers.
November4 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:4:43-54 EXCEPT YOU SEE SIGNS - I do not believe that Jesus was attempting to rebuke the nobleman by what He said, but was preparing Him. It is not as if the man had come to Jesus, sought a sign in order to have the confidence afterward to ask Jesus for a miracle then on his son's behalf. The man had heard of the wedding miracle in Cana and the buzz from the pilgrims returning from the Feast in Jerusalem and had enough belief so as to wait for Him during His brief delay in Samaria. The statement is to focus the man upon the Messianic claims and not on all the observable things done up to this. The strength of faith is not in what has been done prior, but in what is about to occur and why. As to why, many would consider that they like the man because they believe strong enough to receive the healing that the healing takes place; like a partnership with the healer, our faith/His power. Here you will notice that Jesus told the man of the healing before the mention of the man believing. What if the man had delayed in his believing until further down the road? Would the healing have occurred two hours later? I fear that people who believe that their faith in healing must be there in order to receive the healing are the same type of people who seek signs and evidences to buttress up their faith prior. They are close kin to the people have to have a healing or observe directly a miracle themselves before they would ever consider that the performer to be in the class of a Messiah. John has verbally taken us to three distinct spiritual climates so far, the hyper religious in Jerusalem, the distant and half bread in Samaria, and now returns to a commoner's middle ground in Galilee. He has had tremendous success in all three and now previous successes are beginning to compound or multiply on top of each other. Knowing these distinct base climates now, we should begin seeing strange evolution's and twist's of these bases as people begin to talk themselves out of what appears to be the long awaited messianic fulfillment and the efforts of the elite to regain their control. The faith of our Lord is that He can compel us toward the core belief in His Lordship. It is not all about His showmanship and what we might be able to have Him do for us personally, it is about His being and presence and authority over all creation.
November14 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:7:25-44 DIVISION - You would think that it would be a bad spot, a low point, a time to regroup and refocus. After all the ministry has been parked in Galilee, Jesus had said He wasn't going to come but then He shows up, now it seems like nothing He says is being understood as it is meant to be. People are guessing and wishing and falsifying and propagandizing and... you would think that the crusade is loosing it's traction. If the goal was to win everyone over immediately and the sign of success was all sides getting closer together/everyone coming nearer to believing, you'd be right. Immediate is not the goal however, nor is it within Jesus' lifetime. The hard thing to figure is that division must happen, division in this case is good, division means that the hold of the opposition is breaking apart at the seams. Allies are beginning to wonder if their leadership knows something that it is not telling. Agitators are having to brush up on their prophecy to defend their point. Common people are having to consider things that they had not to consider even days before. Division once started can self perpetuate and gain momentum. There definitely is change happening, early signs of movement, crackling sounds of granite rock in the foundations above and beneath. Rumors spread, tempers rise, neighbors more strongly differ. Jesus by nature is not divisive man, but the truth is when the heart of man for so long has been petrified in the opposite. If He didn't stand for the truth only peace we could say that He ministry has gotten off track. If He didn't stand for the eternal kingdom we could say that He is losing His chances of one here. If the task was to make everyone to get along well it is not working. The faith of our Lord is that before there comes the real peace and unity there must come the real division. The hearts of man must be challenged, they must be broken free from frigid ice that binds them, they must be transported into the warmth of light, they must be breathed into with the Spirit like rivers of living water. For them to have been in this death hold for so long it will take division first to get them out. The ministry is right on point.
November19 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:8:48-59 BEFORE ABRAHAM - Stones are drawn. How serious of an offence must one be convinced of if to be party to a stoning execution (and in/near the Temple). Jesus had said that men hate Him because He testifies of the evil in the world. Evil you would think would be ax murderers and rapists, thieves and the such. I don't recall Jesus testifying to this all that much.. Who would imagine evil to be the religious types seeking to kill Christ? The equality claim of Jesus to the Father seems to be the primary issue. It was brought to light by the mention of the pre-incarnate existence and work of Jesus and the use of the sacred title "I AM" of kjv@Exodus:3:14. Though Jesus physically can not be stoned nowadays the religious attitude and effort can still be just the same. It is interesting that witnesses saw both Abraham and Elijah standing with Jesus, but were sworn not to testify of this till after the resurrection. It is also interesting that Jesus doesn't go immediately to the prophecies like kjv@Micah:5:2 "whose goings forth are from old" kjv@Isaiah:9:6 "and His name shall be.. Mighty God" kjv@Proverbs:8:22-30 "possessed me in the beginning" etc.. Nor does He rebut them here with the logic of David's seed being his present tense "Lord" or the "who did Moses see if no man has ever seen the Father and lived". The question is not so much why He didn't do any of this here because He was revealing their own hearts, it is more when and whom was going to do this for Him. The faith of our Lord again comes back down to the Father's timing. This was not the time to convince, but to convict. This was not His time to die. This was not how He was going to die and nothing that they could conceive of doing to Him was going to be anything more than a insight into the evil that clings to man even to this day. Who then is to testify of the pre and post incarnate and incarnate sovereignty of Jesus? We are by the Holy Spirit When? Now To whom? The religious types that still today would stone Jesus (or us His ambassadors) for the very thought. "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death". What saying? These sayings. What death? The second (eternal spiritual) death.
December10 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjvJohn:15:18-16:4 BECAUSE I WAS WITH YOU - Notice that when the Holy Spirit comes He does not come to keep any of these things from happening. They happen, they continue to happen, they increase there is not an end of their happening at least till Christ returns. What does that say about the plan? The plan is to hunker down and absorb the fight that will be leveled by the world against Christ and His followers. And if that is the plan what does that say about the His love by which we are to love others? This passage does not say that eventually everyone will realize that the love of this world equates to hatred for God and turn from their ways, instead it says that what they do they will think that they are doing for God. It doesn't say that there will for a time be enough of a majority to hold the persecution off. It says that because He has called us out from this world and we are not of this world that the world hates us. It says because they persecuted the master they "will" persecute the servants. Why then do they today not hate the Christians in the United States? Is it that we are so Christ like? Could it be because we do not bear witness to the true image of Christ? Because they have not seen His works in us and are not called out from behind their cloak's? Earlier in the passage we were exhorted to abide in Him, to him who abides in the commandment the Father and Son will abide with him. Has this been done? Earlier in the passage we were exhorted to "keep" (fortress) the true meanings of His commandments from the influences of self and world. Have we done that? We are called to love one another as He has loved us. Have we done that? You see how the evidences stack up against us! I think the faith of our Lord is very evident here, that this is not the end of the process, this is the beginning. Added to His faith that the plan is right and that these disciples will be ultimately fruitful in it, it is a testament to the amount of effort/resource that He is investing into this long hard fought process to make it work. This is an important time for these men now to know this as without His physical presence they soon have to recall and depend solely on these words and the Spirit in the years to come as will we.
December15 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:17:20-26 MADE PERFECT IN ONE - They that shall believe through their (those given Him) word are now folded into the Lord's prayer. All being one is the objective as we are made perfect in one. Not much said about the individual being made perfect outside of the "All". Why is it we approach as if we will be perfect with or without all the others? There are actually Christians that will have nothing to do with the All and believe that they are justified in doing so. Hmmm! I don't see anywhere in this that our Lord is having you stand aside while He is perfecting all the others so that then you will feel more comfortable joining back in. In fact, this could be read that the perception that the world has on whether Jesus was actually sent from the Father is based largely upon the oneness that they perceive in us. Read that the glory given by the Father to Jesus is shared with them that believe for the purpose that they might be as one. If we are not one then Jesus' glory is not being shared (not received), nor His love, nor the understanding the the Father and the Son and the Spirit and the Given are one. How then can such an individual's isolation be justified? One can say that is is too difficult, it hurts too much, it is too awkward or demanding. One can say that the others are too child like, too self centered, too worldly. Can that not also be said of you? The truth is that this is the path Jesus has set up for us. This is the path that He is using to perfect us. Easy no, not by our effort or resource. Painless no, perhaps the most painful obedience of all. You say the Father sent the Son... You say that the Father and Son are one... You say that the love of God is in you... now show it! Not just to whomever you want to show it to, but those whom God has commanded you to show it to. The "All those who believe because of their word". Not for you but for Him. Not because they are supposed to be perfect but because we are being made perfect in one. There is no other perfection for you to obtain, this is what it means to walk the walk and talk the talk. The faith of our Lord we have said all along is about process, a process we as believers are barely at the beginning of. If you separate yourself from the process it's effect on you ends. Jesus here is departing at a time when the disciples are not at the top of their game, there is in-fighting and posturing and they are each about to be completely broken down. You would think that there is a better time for Him to go when they are standing tall all on their own. He knows though now what is inside of them and He knows the power built into the process. And He prays this prayer knowing that the prayer is the pronouncement of faith in the process; a process that will eventually lead us to a perfection of all made in one.
January1 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:1:1-17 - Our search begins today with the patience of God. You see the generations from Abraham whom the promise was made kjv@Genesis:12:2-3 to Mary's Joseph who received it? Further back even in kjv@Genesis:3:15 a prophecy is made that there will be a savior. In these names we likely see the impatience of man as well. It is a checkered path from there to here and here to where we are at largely because we see not the time span as God's patience but His absence. What could possibly be happening in the span that is worth the patience of either party? In the case of Israel it is the process of lifting them into the noticeable awareness and irritation of all the other nations. The establishment of Israel a nation that was not and the amplifying blessing/curse of the double measure was to make the peoples notice, the laws and sacred articles and Israel's continuous mishandling of them to prove to all their own sins, the up and down to show of God's mercy/longsuffering/righteousness. That now being irrefutably shown it was time for the promised one and here He is. We can look at the time from Jesus on as the time we have been aware of the time and process before yet remain of the mind that the length of delay equates to God's hiding or tolerance when in fact it equals opportunity for the last few to believe. In the times to come it will not be said by any that God did not give us the time, that He rushed, that He was impatient. It will be said what fools are we to think that God is anything other than righteous, that if He has given time than that time is for our soul's sake and for His name and plan's sake. we are told of the perfecting work of patience. It is time for that patience to work it's work on us. The faith of our Lord is in the totality of the time presented and the righteousness of the Father in allowing for it. He was there with HIM in before the beginning, He will be there with HIM beyond whatever end. Whatever time we have between that is a time of patiently keeping His commandment and faith; it having it's sanctifying way upon us.
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