January27 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:7:7-12 ASK SEEK KNOCK - Let's take this in context for a minute. If we were to ask for what we have already ready, what would be asking for? His Kingdom to come and Will to done on Earth as in Heaven. Our daily bread spiritually first and for our physical needs. Forgiveness of our trespasses in like measure. To be led from temptations such as judging one another from such hypocritical eyes. What does it mean to seek this? To seek it from Him? To seek Him to develop it within us? To seek as a distant wish or as daily presentable action? To hunger and thirst for His righteousness? What does it mean to knock then? It is the faith of the Lord that you have at least this in you. That you will see the need to ask. That you will search through our darkness for His light. That you will knock for the door to be opened for you. Would He really say no to this or provide something other?
March18 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:19:13-15 FORBID THEM NOT - People have their own ideas of what needs be. Sometimes you are thinking of giving the man space, holding the crowds back, keeping the madness under some type of control. Other times you are thinking of the predictable course ahead for a messiah, the steps that should be taken by Him. Who knows what the others are thinking, but, it could easily become a mob. As a Disciple you have His best interest at heart but, in anyway your thoughts come off to either Him or others as rebuke. People from all directions including our own selves are demanding of Him to do all sorts of things as they see fit. To the minds eye it all appears as chaos. It all doesn't seem to phase the Lord however. It takes the focus of the Lord to remind us of what is most important and that includes the children. Who would have ever thought in the midst of such an adult spectacle to bring the children up to Christ for His blessings? They should be commended. It is not just about us after all, our salvation and blessings and teachings, it is about the youngest of the kingdom and theirs. This is an embarrassing moment for the Disciples, but, a teachable moment none the less. The faith of our Lord is that they will remember this one in the times to come, to mark this one down and bring it up over and over especially when it all gets too hectic. Do not get so focused as to miss what things the Lord would have focus on. Do not forbid the children from having their time and experience with Him as well.
March24 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:21:1-11 HOSANNA - kjv@Psalms:118:26 is where 'blessed is he' comes from. Hosanna is better defined as both kjv@Psalms:118:25 'save us now I beseech thee' and kjv@Psalms:118:26 'blessed is he' combined. In turn we must recall kjv@Psalms:118:27 as well 'bind the sacrifice' 'unto the horns of the alter'. If Jesus is aware of the quote that the crowd is chanting (we must assume that He does) then He would know the context of how He is to bless/save them and why it is that He has come; He is the sacrifice. kjv@Zechariah:9:9 is where the 'thy King cometh' comes from which has it's meaning continued in kjv@Zechariah:9:10 'shall speak peace to the gentiles' and 'dominion...to the ends of the earth'. While this is the time for riding the ass and colt in, this is not the time for the ends of the earth. Why not? He is to be bound to the alter first. The palm branches I believe are from the Feast of the Tabernacles, a harvest time remembrance of the Lord leading the captives out of Egypt. The symbolism is to deliverance from sin. This day's events are rich with meaning, but, He is the only one that really knows really what that meaning truly is. The faith of or Lord stands alone. Even the closest to Him know little of what He sees even at jubilant times such as these.
March27 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:21:23-27 IN LIKE WISE - He says you can answer your own question with one word, the answer to my question will be the answer to yours. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. He waxed strong in the Spirit waiting in the desert for God's word to come. Once word was received he then preached a consistent message the repentance for the remission of sins telling the Pharisees specifically to bring fruit worthy of repentance. He preached in the spirit/words from Elijah preparing the way of the Lord. A great many were prepared by him to hear the words of the one to follow, not the elders and chief priests however, their road was paved to be hewn down like a fruitless tree, there was shown no fruits of repentance. It was a worse sin in their book for Jesus not to comply under their authority than not comply with God's. Whose authority? Well it certainly was not theirs. John had called them vipers to whom wrath was to come, urged individuals of them to flee. Where are these men now today? Where is their authority gone? It is gone. Why indeed did they not believe John then? What was there to fear from the people if they themselves were correct? The faith of our Lord is in the authority of God as proven out by the Holy Spirit. Things have been done, steps made and proven out for millennium by the Spirit to prepare these next few days, things that Jesus if a man could not have possibly prepared for himself. All the pieces now will fall together, mind you not accidentally but, quite masterfully. Had they really been concerned about proper authority they would have traced all the steps.
April7 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:25:1-13 OIL/LAMPS - I guess that I have always figured that the oil was faith; half did not have enough faith to last the wait. How then could they ask the wise maids to share fuel for their lamps? In light of the previous passage the oil more likely is the doing of the Lord's work. the fulfilling of responsibility and obligation. How then could the wise share their fulfillment with those that have carelessly disregarded such? The lamp is then faith, a container filled or emptied of oil. The Lord's work is never done, it never runs out. The only reason a lamp would not have oil is because the lamp doe not contain the sense of urgent calling and diligent obligation. Oil has also often been associated with anointment, which fits in well with this analogy. How does one run out of God's anointing unless he does not hold himself to do what he has been anointed to do? Watch therefore. Watch for His coming? Watch yourself for what you are doing in light of His coming? Anointing carries the obligation to perform. The faith of our Lord has performed and is performing it's obligations. Many of those obligations he has now delegated to us so as to test and build us up. Many will be thankful of His performance and will be awaiting His marriage so as to attend, not everyone one waiting will be able to perform their duties then because of their failure now to be ready.
April8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:25:14-30 DELIVERED UNTO THEM HIS GOODS - The picture is of the servants responsibility with the Lord's goods after He leaves. A considerable amount is given to even the least according to his particular ability. Paul explains it as "grace given" kjv@Romans:12:6 "the manifestation of Spirit given to each man to profit withal" kjv@1Corinthians:12:7 "stewards of mysteries" kjv@1Corinthians:4:1-2. Peter says "minister the same one to another as stewards of manifold grace of God" kjv@1Peter:4:10. The fact is that He has given us His goods, spiritual gifts/ability and opportunity, this with any type of investment compounds with interest. It is not usury per se, not at the expense or misuse of anybody, it is natural and beneficial growth of the Kingdom. Withal implies the common good of all as does one to another. By the one man burying the grace given and not making diligent profitable use of it, he is accusing his Lord of reaping where He has not sown, profiting on the back on others, hardness in the ways of business. He is also burying it away from the profit of the collective. His own ability has been ceased by his mis-understanding of the Lords intentions/rights and by implication his association to the larger group. What he has been given is then to be taken away and given to those whose faithfulness has been proven. The faith of our Lord is in increase. He has given His grace; the Holy Spirit and it's manifestations, spiritual gifts to be ministered one to another for to profit withal and for all. What good is such an uncommon privilege if not faithfully executed as a good steward.
April9 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:25:31-46 UNTO THE LEAST OF THESE MY BRETHREN - Back up to the previous goods given the stewards to invest. Forward to the judgement of the tribes. Righteousness appears not only along the lines of individuals it appears also along lines of the human tribes. The implications are intriguing. The least of these my brethren appear in all cultures; they are the peoples Jesus identifies Himself most with. How these nations respond to the needs of these least brethren is the identifying factor that separates the nations on the right from the left. As stewards of the goods the Lord has given all tribes and nations, they are to faithfully invest such to the care of the least. It is interesting that tendencies could run so deep as to effect the judgement upon entire cultures. Men as individuals it seems can be heavily influenced by the attitude of the collective as it concerns the goods of the Lord being invested into the needs of the least. The Lord is seen either as a harsh man reaping where He has not sown or else a Lord of grace owed reinvestment toward those He would identify Himself so closely to. The faith of our Lord differs so greatly from the faith of most. What the righteous soul lacks most ahead of eternity is the judgement and clearing away of the unrighteous as a whole, nation and individual. Our's is not to presume this judgement on our own but, to be deeply conscious of it's universal need and to faithfully execute in it's stead the aid and investment required up to that. Some would ask where is the love of God? This is the love as given to us! We can draw men out from this impending judgement of nations by serving as would our Lord the needs physical/spiritual of their least.
April16 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:26:47-56 THUS IT MUST BE - kjv@Acts:1:16 David prophesied about the betrayal by a friend/equal/guide kjv@Psalms:41:9 kjv@Psalms:55:12-15 and the crucification kjv@Psalms:22:1-31. All this kjv@Acts:2:23 by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God as Isaiah and others reported kjv@Isaiah:53:1-12. The faith of our Lord is in the Father and the pathway Divinely reported to Him through the prophets. Jesus places a very heavy emphasis on the prophets as should we. In modern times prophecy is uncommon and near silent dry hard ground. We lack to see it's former miraculous operation and necessity in revealing divine depth. Jesus' course was laid out before Him and well written for continuous direction and confirmation. He was out to fulfill it's every word. We should now know that we have the more sure word because of the more sure word of prophecy. We should know the tremendous arm/power of the Lord revealed in the fulfillment of the prophets report kjv@Isaiah:53:1. Modern spiritualism teaches that all things are within ones power, legions of angels can be called by us as well; yet we are taught power and prudence are two separate things. What is all important is obeying God's will, much of it revealed by the prophets, if true for our savior than surely for us.
April22 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:27:32-44 HE TRUSTED IN GOD - King David seemed to have the clearest vision of what the Lord would have to suffer. Many of the articles he would pen into his songs at first reading would seem to point to David or else no one. But, when did David suffer these things he wrote of? Without what we see here happening unto Jesus we would have to conclude that David was near paranoid, highly over exaggerated, consumed with the pressures mounted against him, obsessed with the persecution of the wicked and the silence of a slumbering God. With Jesus we wonder what then is David somewhere in this audience that he can see these things sentenced onto Jesus by the Lord of His Lord? His descriptions are uncanny to the smallest of details; the parting of clothes, the offer of gall, the wagging of heads. Where is David? How did he see this? Who has believed his report? To whom had the arm of his Lord been revealed? While the sign above speaks the official accusation, the words on the ground heard spoken declare the actual accusation, that He trusted in God. This is apparently what one gets for trusting in such a far fetched notion as God, says even the Jews. What would it take for them to believe? For Him to save Himself and come down, but, wait... that would break the commandment of God and of the prophets. In other words, for them to believe in Jesus He would have to break every commandment and become like them. Why would God even want their belief if that is the case? David was deeply troubled by what he foresaw as were the other messianic prophets. Yet in every messianic psalm he come to the conclusion the seed - Jesus would hold true to the end and that the Father would avenge Him with all certainty. David took comfort and inspiration in that. The faith of our Lord is in His Lord the Father and in seeing the plan through to it's end. It is in the words He had had recorded long before hand to remind Himself and to tow us through the dark cloudy mist of perception and truth that we not loose sight of Him. How the Jews lost that sight, it is almost as if they were blinded for the sake of germinating this seed into the far reaches of the Gentile nations by their rejection. The more even that the report/arm of the Lord is being revealed.
May26 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:7:1-23 HOWBEIT IN VAIN - Imagine spending the bulk of your lifetime judging others presumably on spiritual grounds by what means little to God. If the commandment of God boils down to loving God with all heart/soul/body/strength and neighbor as self, where then have the disciples broken this commandment by not ceremoniously dry washing hands to honour the elders? What would make one ever think that the two are the same unless it was a dirty heart that wanted to appear to others as if it was clean? Imagine being consumed by what went into others' bellies more than what came out of their hearts. Imagine having that be the factor that keeps you from coming to a clear and present knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Imagine that you have come all the way from Jerusalem to argue with/disprove Messiah over that. The funny thing is that even after having this explained disciples like Peter still had problems reversing this clean/unclean thought long ingrained in him later on in life. How deep are the traditions we hold? How do we still hold to them even though we understand differently? Why does such a principal teaching appear to us as a parable and not a plain principal? The faith of our Lord has to keep it's focus. He cannot allow these side issues to detour His teaching, He must vanquish them as soon as they are presented. Our focus must be spiritual and be on Him and His commandment. It can not morph into what we think is spiritual but really is not.
May31 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:8:27-30 THAT I AM - There is a voice predicted that will prepare His way in the desert kjv@Isaiah:40:3. This is not necessarily Elijah or it can be Elijah in two roles. kjv@Luke:1:17 describes John as having the spirit of. There is also Elijah coming before the great and dreadful day of the Lord kjv@Malachi:4:5, speaking directly about the Day of Judgment kjv@Malachi:4:6 turning the hearts of the children to their fathers. kjv@Matthew:11:14 Jesus connects John to Elias if we will receive it. Since the great day (moon blood red, burning the wicked as stubble kjv@Joel:2:31) has yet to come we must conclude that Elias comes twice. If John is Elias Jesus then is not, He is the one whom will have His way prepared before Him and later the one whose Day will be great and terrible. If Elias comes twice so then does Son of Man. Jesus is aware that His disciples are struggling between what Jesus tells them and what they are hearing on the streets. In a sense Jesus is forcing them into deciding which Jesus they are going to choose to believe. This is the second time He has asked them. That there is so much talk in that day recorded is important today as the modern Jews attempt to state that Messiah is just anyone anointed with oil, as it shows that the Jews of that time expected something much more. They also have it so tightly wrapped up that prophecy can only be fulfilled in just one way and since it didn't happen their way what the Gospels/Jesus declare is just plain stupid or even blasphemous errors. The Spirit not flesh and blood will have to reveal this to a man's heart individually. While they seek to minimize the meaning of all this and contort prophecy to get there, the faith of our Lord has all of this in clear perspective. Prophecy also has one day their 'veil' being lifted.
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.
July19 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:3:21-38 IT CAME TO PASS - A very significant day for Jesus symbolizing the passing of the torch from John to Jesus. John's ministry will now diminish and Jesus' strengthen. It is much like the passing of leadership from generation to generation. Jesus respectfully submits to John's baptism that John might see that this is no ordinary baptism, this is a royal inauguration crowned with the blessing of both Father and Holy Spirit. All the signs now point to Jesus, the lineage of both mother and human dad, the prophecies old and new, the opening of the skies with voices and appearances. That is not to say that everyone will now believe it. Just as Isaiah had written "Who has believed our report" most Jews to this day disregard the lineage of Joseph the child was not of his physical seed. The arm of the Lord can be revealed having performed every detail of the report and the majority still not believe it, being not in the form that they intellectually expect/agree to accept. Had it not been this self imposed technicality it would have been another. As best as I can recall Jesus does not ever entertain this trivial objection as penetrating and lasting as it has been. The faith of our Lord is in the submission to the Father's performance of mercy not in the intellectual suppositions of the fallen race. As it is said "My thoughts are not your thoughts" and "My ways are not your ways", what difference does it make if this is the way the Father did perform it and it still can be shown to superbly fit with the prophecies? I respectfully ask you then, how else did He perform it?
July24 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:5:1-11 NEVER THE LESS AT THY WORD - I've been confused here in Luke where the disciples came in. Matthew has Jesus meeting Simon and Andrew, they leave all to follow, then John and James in similar fashion, no mention of the Mother-in-Law. Mark has Simon and Andrew first, John and James a little further, then Simon's Mother-in-Law. Luke has Simon's Mother-in-Law then all four fishermen as partners. John has two of the Baptist's disciples one of which is Andrew follow, he brings Simon to Jesus, Jesus then finds Philip who finds Nathaniel, these men go to the wedding in Cana, no mention of the Mother-in-Law. How do we pull these all together in proper respect? I will give it a try. The Mother-in-Law seems to be the pivot point. The first miracle being at the wedding puts John's account ahead of the Mother-in-Law's time as in Mark. John's is more detailed, Marks typical style is compressed. This means that they know each other and have toured a short time before returning to Peter's home to heal her then pick up again leaving all to follow full time. Matthew and Luke pick up at the healing and attempt to talk Jesus into staying, after a brief rest Jesus returns to the shore where the boy's have partnered up to regroup telling them about becoming fishers of men, given what has happened they realize their sinful nature, leave all behind now for a full time road ministry. To me this better describes a process Jesus utilized to gently bend the men by introducing them to the road and ministry, taste the good and bad of the experience, see the truly miraculous, before asking them dive full in. It also explains the importance of this moment in Galilee and why two of the Gospel writer decide to start at this. The faith of the Lord includes faith in these particular men. These men are given to Him by the Father, it is His responsibility not to loose any of them except for the son of perdition. These men are full in now thanks to His gentle patient yet determined manner as well as His obvious miraculous powers.
July26 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:5:17-26 ARISE - I bet the room full of delegates considered this side show an intrusion at first. How are we supposed to catch this Jesus in His word with these delinquents tearing through the roof tiles, lowering some misfit into a room where we theologians are trying to get something done? But, wait a minute! This might just work in our favor. I was thinking when I first read this that I knew from Mark that this happened at Peter's house. Now I am wondering how a meeting such as this all came about. Did they approach Jesus and suggest a pow-wow to hear of His doctrine? Did they approach Peter to see if he could put something together? I noticed in subsequent readings that here were all of these delegates and there also was the power of the Lord to heal them; heal who the delegates? Then Jesus sees the faith of these men outside and because of that heals the man with palsy in front of all these faithless scabs. This passage becomes so rich in all of it's details and possibilities. The faith of our Lord is boldly in the face of His critics. He not only takes this occasion to take a swing, He knocks the ball out of the park. The intentional inter-twining the concepts of forgiveness with the concept of His healing power is a brilliant revelation of who He is and who His critics really are.
August4 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:6:46-49 MY SAYINGS - When the flood arises (and it will) there are two possible outcomes, the house stands or the house falls. What is the house? What one believes? What one has done? What is the rock? Both builders are building. Because of one builder's hearing and doing of the Lord's sayings he has built his house in a certain way. He hears and does by faith, faith in the Lord and faith in the storm, and what he does by that faith he does long ahead of the first droplets. The other builder builds a very similar structure I am sure, roof, walls, rooms, doorways, may even be bigger with more luxurious accommodations; the difference being the ground on which the foundation is attached. One might say that this is the far superior build up until the storm. This builder by all appearance has drastically under estimated the storm or the solidity of the rock perhaps selfishly over estimating his ability in framing the structure. The type of storm is unforeseen. It could then be said that it is not so much the structure that the two builders constructed but much more the ground on which the structure was errected. It is much tougher to build on rock, some say impossible and do not try, some try but on their own meager terms. Those that do best do so on the terms of the rock. Note that when tested for all that the second builder put into it it all immediately fell. The faith of our Lord is that we will understand and not under estimate the approaching storm nor the ever present rock, that we will choose to do our building on the only ground safe enough to withstand. His sayings. Our hearing them and our doing them; it is all that stands between us and a house built on sand.
August16 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:9:10-17 GIVE YE THEM TO EAT - The LORD Jehovah had fed Israel miraculously before with manna and then quail. In kjv@Numbers:11:21-23 the question was presented then to doubting Moses by the LORD "is the Lord's hand waxed short"? This then is a message to Israel and a lesson to the disciples; this is the very same Lord and His hand is still not shortened. Imagine what Herod and the leaders in Jerusalem must be thinking now. How do they keep up with the man who feeds thousands? The curious thing is that He seats these people in blocks of fifty. I was trying to picture a minimum of 100 blocks of fifty men with seating room on a hillside or bluff. It is impressive if not military in appearance. Imagine what Herod and the leaders in Jerusalem must be thinking now. What is not mentioned here is the reaction of the crowd. Would it be proper to applaud? Would it be proper to stand up, bounce up and down arms raised high with singing and whistles? Or would this be a moment of quiet personal awe and introspection, you and five thousand plus? That the disciples would forget about such a evening the next time it occurs is of practical interest. It may perhaps point to the frequent dilemma of believing the ability of the Lord but not knowing His direction/timing. The faith of our Lord is in continuing the message begun in the old testament speaking a big language very reminiscent of the language of the past. These events should be ringing deep and true into the hearts of Israel. Clearly the big brush strokes are not penetrating; yet.
August22 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:10:1-24 JESUS REJOICED IN SPIRIT - It must be pleasurable to observe your followers making their first few spiritual steps. After all that you have invested in them, to set them out on their first solo flights, then to have them return with such encouraging words. These men are just babes and they are sent out among the wolves, but they have held their own. There will of course need to be adjustments, corrections, reproof, for what it is worth though it was a good first effort. Seventy people now doing the advance leg work of the Lord's final journey back to Jerusalem has to be on the radar of a great many chiefs and leaders. Tensions have to be ramping up. The so called wise and prudent are preparing their ultimate denial and rejection. Twelve, now seventy? What next 300 little Jesus' healers coming in to town for Passover? A great many works have been done by Jesus and now by His followers. If there were any chance of believing there would be signs of cracking by now. The faith of our Lord is in the mission ahead and it's timing. It is good that He had a moment of rejoicing and encouragement. However, there is a point where miracles and wonders are too plenteous to be noticed. What is there left to do by the time yet another town is on the "woe unto thee" list. It is time to make toward Jerusalem.
August23 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:10:25-37 HOW READEST THOU - Love the Lord God with all thy heart/soul/strength/mind and thy neighbor as thyself; sounds pretty easy doesn't it? So if you are an expert at the Law of Moses and you want to test this "instructor" that you know to be false you are more than willing to justify your case by expose the hole in Jesus' logic, the more liberal interpretation of "who is thy neighbor". If all that Jesus is to you is "instructor" you have already missed out on the "Love the Lord" part because your Lord is standing right before you and you are attempting to disprove Him. Some love; eh? Chances are more than likely then that you are going to miss out on the neighbor part too. It is far too easy for the notion of Lord to become all of the exteriors and institutions of the Temple and the Law and Traditions. It is too easy to devote yourself entirely (as this man) to everything holy but the person of the Lord. As for the answer Jesus directed the man to, mercy to all even the most despised among you, the trappings of this religious lifestyle are likely to hurry you down the road past the very opportunities to love that your Lord presents your way. In the preoccupation of fulfilling "these" things we miss out on the occasion to fulfill "the" thing we are most commanded to do. The man does not continue to argue his point. Jesus may have given him the answer he expected to hear; this false teacher is a lover of Samaritans and a blasphemer of priests and Levites. He can now again be quoted to others as saying such. This is the way the legalistic mind thinks; it is not a mindset of mercy it is a mindset of justifying oneself above others. The faith of the Lord is in the proper reading of this command. Mercy, love, truth, righteousness all have their root in knowing and loving the person of the Lord and what the person of the Lord has prepared Himself to do for you that you cannot in any way do for yourself... justify. kjv@Isaiah:53:11 @ "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities". HOW READEST THOU THAT?
August30 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:12:1-12 IN THE MEANTIME - You will recall that Jesus had sent the seventy out in advance to every town that He would Himself go. Now that He is going there are much larger crowds; innumerable onlookers. Add to that the common people are hearing of the clash between Jesus and the religious/political elite and that they (those in power) are publicly now going out of their way to try to bring Jesus down. The crowds are huge. How one could speak and project to such a crowd I do not know unless one focuses more so on the twelve primary disciples. Jesus is repeating several frequent messages from earlier, the leaven of hypocrisy, nothing being hidden, whom to fear, the worth of a soul, the unpardonable sin, the teaching of the Holy Spirit in perilous times. It may be that He wants it recorded what was said so that the pharisees can not manufacture their own tale of what He was saying leading up to His arrest. Jesus is far ahead of their plans by preparing crowds for Himself and the crowds are producing by the spectical undeniable interest all the region over. Luke is making it a point to follow up the dinner time explosion with an immediate continuation of attack regarding the hypocrisy, secretiveness, tactics of intimidation, trail and persecution that will be resorted to by these raveness and wicked combatants identified specifically out from the synagogues/magistrates/powers. Just as they are coming against Him they will soon enough come after His disciples as well. The faith of the Lord has already prepared itself for the battle ahead in many respects, but at the same time is being totally open and observant of the impromptu teachings/directions of the Holy Spirit. It is an interesting logistical parallel observed that we might miss if not keeping in mind in a fuller context. There is now building an innumerable amount of witnesses; whether they remain true will be the interesting thing to watch. It is an especially important time to beware of the leaven for it swells the entire loaf quick.
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.
October21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:24:36-49 YE ARE WITNESSES - The plan has much to do with the eleven plus telling to others what they have seen. Not everyone is going to be able to touch and feel the risen savior, that would be highly impractical. In future generations it will still come down to one's word. Jesus could stand before us to be touched and still be asked "how do we know that it was you that died" etc... Seeing and touching doesn't seem to be all that effective either as the mind has trouble excepting the sensory data as much as the other. It seems to be a combination of data sources that wins these men's hearts and minds, as well as the faith invested in them by Jesus. And for us now later it will be the testimonies that they themselves will give and His faith invested in us. It is faith on the part of the Lord that they will give testimony and faith that we will receive it. The faith of our Lord is in our faith however. No matter how much is indisputably proven there will still be a larger element of just faith; evidence itself requires faith. This is true of all things even science itself. In this passage, He is also calling upon their obedience and patience to wait till endued with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will weigh heavily into this receiving faith and being guided by it equation throughout the future. They/We must simply have faith enough in Jesus to receive it. It will be repentance and remission of sins in His name along with their testimony that these men will need to preach.
November30 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:12:12-19 THY KING COMETH - It had been said that "no man taketh" the Sons's life that He "gladly giveth it". The Sanhedrin watched on powerless and self defeated. The disciples watched on not understanding. The effect of the raising of Lazarus is stunning even months latter. The part of the crowd that awaited waited to see what blessing the miracle man would bless them with next. The part of the crowd that had followed Him in were following expecting Him to be their King immediately just as a year before (and Jesus had refused). A part of the crowd gathering just to not to miss a good commotion. Jesus on the one hand, the perceivable side was boldly defying the Sanhedrin and political elite. On the other hand, the one not to be understood till after, He was giving Himself over to His death; not by anyone's power but His own. Hosanna is to say "Come save". Only He at this point understands what to "save" means and from what. "He that comes in the name of the Lord" is taken by the crowds in many different ways as well; only He knows from just how far He has come and for what. He has come and entered in and it will take days before anyone in power will know what they are going to do. They won't know till it walks up to them in the form of a betrayal. The faith of our Lord is that in the weeks after to come the true understanding will closely follow. There wont be the understanding actually until it walks up and fills the room in the form of tongues of fire, The Holy Ghost. It will walk up to us because of Him, the one who freely gave His life that we might live. It will draw us in because of Him, the one that took Life back. This is for our salvation and that is our King and that will be the fold of His kingdom. THY KING COMETH... COME SAVE.
December31 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:21:15-25 FOLLOW ME - Two of our favorite personalities of the bible Peter and John face the ultimate question in our final passage. Peter is asked directly by Jesus "do you love me". John reports to us from a curious distance. Three times Peter is asked and what could he honestly say? What could any of us say? Peter just a week or so ago had denied Jesus three times. Peter has learned first hand of the often cloudy climate of intention and misguided result within our hearts. So must we. Jesus twice is asking however if Peter loves with the "agape" that Jesus loves him with. With much thought Peter admits that he loves Him more like a brother. Could any of us truly respond rather in the affirmative? Peter answers with naked honesty. I don't know whether John understands at this point either. He writes some sixty years later with much introspection addressing himself simply as "the one Jesus loved"; perhaps the best answer of all. We love Jesus best we can because He first loves us best that anyone can, in so doing He teaches us what it means to be agape loved. Any agape form of love we have is solely a reflection of the love with which He has always loved us. Peter is asked the third time "do you love me then like you say as a brother"? Taking the inquiry a step further, do any of us even know what the brotherly form of love is all about? Could we know without first knowing His agape love? Jesus here presents these questions to Peter further as a "if/then" conditional statement. It is almost better translated "if you feed on My agape then feed My agape to My other sheep as well". We easily fall into the trap of thinking that it is our love that we are to show and so too we forget that we are all His sheep; our love/our (or scattered disassociated) sheep/our feeding. His sheep need fed His agape not the mere human resemblance of it. If we have any resemblance of love of our own for Jesus we would know this. This ties into the notion of abiding fully in His love and therein/thereby producing fruit. The moment we step out of that love into a lesser forms of love from our own reserve our fruitfulness withers detached from the vine. It also ties into the notion that we are to crucify our former self daily as a living sacrifice being transformed by the renewing of our minds, as much of our mind is going about doing our own forms of love and not His. Couldn't the question be interpreted "I know from which love you love me by the love with which you are feeding my sheep"? Peter's love one day will become sacrificial and will glorify this very Savior, not to confuse it with the Saviors though. It will remain within the agape love Jesus has shown all men. In Peter's case it matters not what the other men like John will be called to do because it all is the working of the Lord's agape. We are compelled by the agape love of Christ to freely partake and distribute of said agape to the benefit of all His children. The faith our Lord is that we can come to know His agape love and that it is His agape love will can be presented and distributed to all men world wide. It is often best combined with our more agape infused brotherly forms of love as that is what we are more generally suited to produce. However, it must always be the focus of His agape not our forms for that is where all credit truly lays. The honor of fielding His banner into the unknown territories is the greatest form of due respect to Him possible. It is an honor men like Peter and John and others have followed and for some even died for.
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