Comments - devotion RecentComments

February18 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:12:22-37 BIND THE STRONG MAN - This passage seems to be more about the Holy Spirit than any one else. kjv@Acts:10:38 declares that Jesus was anointed fully with the Holy Spirit. Here He is saying that one strong proof of His kingdom is that the Holy Spirit casts out demons, He literally binds Satan and steals away the spoils of his house. Satan would cause division in his own kingdom if he were to do this. Men by trying to explain this as something other are in fact blaspheming the character and work of the Holy Spirit; the more serious forms of knowingly blaspheming the Spirit will not be forgiven. The logical conclusion is that the tree is either good or bad, no in between, proven by it's fruit. Judgment is given as much upon words and accusations such as these as any of our works. The faith of our Lord is in His anointing. His anointing is the Holy Spirit. Our consideration and respect for the person character and works of the Holy Spirit is of utmost importance to our salvation. Be careful then how you try to explain these things that He worked in Jesus and now the followers of Jesus away.

April21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:27:27-31 HAIL - The accusation of King is what seems to be sticking in everyones craw. We have heard it from the Jews, from the the Governor, now we see it from the Roman guard. That Jesus has said that His Kingdom is not of this world is of little weight, they are all taking Him literally as of this moment. He was delivered into this position by the Jews on the evidence of blasphemy. For the Romans this may be more about the hatred for anything Jewish and about the disturbance. They seem well practiced at the art of mockery and quite creative in adapting common items to their purpose. For us it is a pipeline into the dynamics and mechanics of the mob mentality, the overwhelming proof of man's sinful nature. Everything that man purports himself to be and to have evolved into is contradicted and disproved by the frequent and vile occurrences such as this. Jesus had to endure such contradiction kjv@Hebrews:12:3 because such contradiction is mankind's nature. The faith of our Lord is in the role of revealer. He reveals the heart of man whole as so He does man individual. He is rejected and despised not for what miraculous things He did (those seem to be forgotten) but, for what these things reveal about us. Often He does not even have to say or do a thing to reveal us at the core, has simply to endure our action we mount against Him. Like the Roman guard, we might think that we are on top. For how much longer? Until Kingdom come?

May9 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:2:23-3:6 LORD ALSO OF THE SABBATH - How frustrating it must be to ask your accusers to engage you rationally and have them not answer you. How welcome would it be to have the opposing view point stand forth and debate matters of law and truth on logical and spiritual merits. How enlightening it would have been even of our persuasion to hear learned point and counterpoint, to battle it out to wits end. We don't have that however here and up against Jesus we won't ever have it. No one in His presence had ever seen anyone teach with such authority; if you can't beat Him then you have to trap Him; get Him to beat Himself. Plucking handfuls of corn? Healing on the Sabbath? Is this really the best that you have Pharisee? He asks you. Do you not have an answer Herodian? Or does the answer that you have weaken your position? The public's perception of your position? Jesus is angry with them. He has every right. But, anger is not going to get Him to stray off course. He will walk the mine field that you've laid out by rising above it. The faith of our Lord is that in every other thing that He is Lord over, He is also Lord of the Sabbath. He is our Sabbath literally; our peace, our rest, our praise and communion. If critics acted this way in His day how likely are they to act the same in ours?

July18 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:3:1-20 PREPARE YE - Luke goes about the task of making these things certain. Theophilus has likely heard of John the Baptist as has most anyone in the region of that time that would be reading this. He would know or be able to look into the timing of the Caesars and Herods and Governors as well. These are certain things being made more certain by putting them in the context of Isaiah's prophecies and what John himself said was the scope of his ministry. In preparing the Lords way we almost have what would be a revival upon a revival, a revival based upon a general repentance with works and a larger spiritual repentance based upon God's ultimate performance of mercy. The Divine intention behind all of this is explained as bringing the exalted low and the meek higher to an equal playing field which He does literally in the raising/accession of Christ and then after a judgment as to the production of good spiritual fruit. John's part in this, as unimaginably important as it is, is minute compared to the workings of Jesus. The faith of our Lord like Luke is in by making known of the certainty of these things we too mat have the faith/certainty that leads us through to this path of repentance unto good abiding spiritual works/fruits.

November6 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:5:16-30 HEARETH MY WORD - This passage is an amazing display of our Lord's faith. The Pharisee's have just accused Him of thinking Himself equal to God. He reveals how that arrangement works. In His present state He will do nothing of His own self. What He see's the Father do, that is what He will do. He seeks not His own will. Think of all the things thus far we have seen Him do. Think of all the things that He is about to do. Think of the cross for which He is best known today for doing. Surely now the Father has not put Himself technically on the cross and died for sin, but literally He has shown that to Jesus. It is said that the Father has given the Son judgment, the cross is that judgment. Jesus has seen it, has understood it, has pursued it, will become it because He seeks not His own will. The judgment then for us is quite simple and straight forward. He that believeth this Son's word and He who has sent Him has eternal life. The Father is showing Him things along the way to do that will make that belief all the more believable for all men. When He makes the man at the pool whole, He see's the Father doing that. When He releases the legion of demons from the grave dwellers soul He see's the Father do that. What a clarity of vision He must have and need to upkeep. It takes constant prayer and devotion. He can see it written before Him in scriptures placed hundreds even thousands of years before Him. He can see it in the Holy Spirit moving Him from location to location. He can see it in His dreams and visions. He may be able to see the event right before the event occurs and know to do it. Whether He is shown an overview/outline/direction or the brilliance of detailed motions the effect is just the same. So not only is He equal, He has surrendered that equality in order to perform the will of the Father. He has not come to condemn any man in the way that we mean it for only the man himself by not believing in His word and He that sent Him can do that. Even the those in the graves shall hear His voice and raise up to be judged, those having done good by believing to the resurrection to grace, those having not believed to the resurrection of damnation. Many will ask "how could He do that?". The question is rather "why would man not do that?". Why would the Father do this? That the Son might be honored even as the Father is. It is an equality certainly, not though as a simpleton would think. The faith of our Lord is in a very intimate relationship to/with the Father who has given Him all things and is placing all things at His feet. As the Father has loved the Son, so the Son is loving of the Father. Not just in words and platitudes, but in actionable deeds and obedience's. Our faith then is in what the Son has shown the Father to be doing. As we love the Father, His Son having been seen by us to be sent, we see what it is we are to do likewise seeking not our own wills.

November17 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:8:31-41 NO PLACE IN YOU - It may be wise for a moment to strip away any preconception of sin. It seems that these people are so focused on sin as adultery or idolatry or immorality or the like that they cannot see that sin is still more than all of that. Let's put sin simply on the level of our belief. The Father sends his Son to die and be propitiation for every man's sin; Jesus is that Son. What do we do with that information? Do we say that we don't need the Son? That we are different than all others? That we are better than all of that? The only thing that would make us say that is our perception of sin. Minus everything else that can be perceived about sin, what God the Father has determined and provided must stand true. If God says that all men have the condition of sin and therefore sin and that the Son Jesus is the only antidote then we must take that at full value. Now we can add back in all the other understandings and realize that like all of the excuses and denials given by the Jews in this passage, every evidence suggests that their present condition is opposite to anything that they are willing to admit. They are captive to sin. They are captive in every aspect because everything that they do and say and reason leads them away from latching on to their only antidote Jesus. If the antidote is Jesus and you are strongly considering killing Him or minimizing Him or setting Him aside or making Him something other than He is and has come to be, everything that otherwise should occur naturally, you then are slave to sin, sin is holding you captive. Not bloodline, not ceremonial cleansing, not ceremonial sacrifice, not even devout/zealous attempts at morality can free you from the nature you are bond by; everything you are doing is dictated by that nature. If Jesus is the bulk and meaning and fulfillment of God's word and you take it to mean something other, then quite literally God's word has no place in you, even if you believe in it in every other respect. What is making you to do that is the very evidence of the masterful self justification and impulse of sin. Before you measure sin by all the obvious markers of murder and covetousness etc.. begin at the insistence of God's word. Understand how it is intended to make us free indeed. The faith of our Lord is in a future where all sin and all the influence attached will be long distant and fellowship with true continuance therein will be profoundly deep and eternal. A day when father sin has been abandoned for Father God.

December7 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:14:5-14 HE THAT BELIEVE ON ME - This passage ties together two concepts of great similarity and importance, what we believe in Jesus and what we know Jesus to be. As you see the disciples are still yet struggling with the knowing Jesus in the Father and the Father in Jesus, more so than say Martha, Mary or the bind man. All of this time with Him yet the way, the truth and the life are still unknown to them; the ones His future ministry truly relies. Then comes the believing Jesus even to the point where they will be able to do works similar to Jesus. It seems odd that today we take this to mean just miracles, the disciples had already performed miracles and been quite successful at it without fully believing. Works do not have to equal miracles, in fact works could tie back to the previous passage of loving one another in ways that totally glorify the Father. Greater works than these could tie into the numbers of "loving one anothers" and their depth considering that the human heart was unable to do this ahead of Jesus' work upon it. Let me ask you this, is the greater proof of Father in Son and Son in Father that we can make the sun return six hours back to it's noon position or that millions of hearts that were once at complete and inescapable enmity with God irreversibly set in the clutches of sin and death have been made to believe on the name of Jesus to salvation and gratefully spread His word to the four corners of earth to the glory of God? If we first set our eyes and feet upon doing this the greatest of works then we would know in those times when for the sake of those others nothing remaining will do but the miraculous that certainly Jesus would do anything asked in His name to glorify the Father, that it would be done. We tend to read through this passage in a frame of mind similar to the disbelieving disciples. Where is HE? Show us to HIM? Prove it? Jesus is instead saying I've shown you all along, it is all here and now, it is taking place, you've seen Me so you've seen HIM, know and believe it, go therefore, do what I have commanded you. The faith of our Lord is quite literally for the full fledged believing and the knowing of man. How far the heart must go from where it was to where He needs it to be to start. Some it may take three years down the same road seeing the same things, being gifted the same spiritual gifts, before they come to the place of starting to pull these things together into one whole. Others it takes thirty years. For some four painful days. Either way that is the journey the heart must take from here to there to the start. Believing and knowing and then works (obedience's) greater than these, that is His faith in us.