February6 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:9:1-8 THAT YOU MAY KNOW... ARISE - Does Jesus actually link palsy to sin? It could be read this way. However, if so why did He not say 'that you may see that sin causes palsy and that I have the power to forgive sin'. Would He have left the man at 'good cheer' had it not been for the thoughts of blasphemy in the audience? We have a observable evidence here in being able to walk. We have an unobservable evidence here being forgiven. Could it be that this healing was meant to be testament to His power as Christ first and foremost and if Christ then the power to heal as well as the power to forgive? The audience seemed to think that God had given a power to men. The power to heal palsy by the casual forgiveness of sins? Or the power to come to a Christ who has the proven authority to do either or both? Is it easier to say forgiven or arise? Both are impossible to say if you are not Christ. The faith of our Lord is in the authorities given Him by the Father for the purposes of performing the Father's will. Not only does He believe in such, He is willing and able to demonstrate such; both observable and unobservable.
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.
March16 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:18:21-35 BECAUSE THOU DESIREDST ME - You can imagine a man going through this life void of the sense of debt to his creator, doing as he pleased, taking what he pleased, conducting himself amongst the rest of creation just as he pleased. If anything is owed by anybody, it is owed to him for having made him work so hard to get where he is at; right?. Imagine then his surprise when his creator calls in the man's debts to Himself. How small is his grasp of the reality things when he thinks that somehow he can repay it on his own? Though the debt is forgiven him this man then continues on thinking that whatever is owed God from here on out will be extracted from what others owe to him; he won't be caught in the embarrassment of having to beg for mercy again. How small is his grasp of the reality of things again when he thinks that the small hundred pence owed him by others is anything near the amount of any future debt incurred to his creator? Instead he is incurring all the more debt. The two debts are completely dissimilar but, the principal being taught is the same; true compassion. Many today seek God to be unconditional without placing the same expectation upon themselves. Isn't that convenient? The Lord instead places one condition on compassion, it is implied by His forgiveness to you, that along the way from here on out that you proceed with the same compassion to all others that He has shown to you. That in itself is impossible to do unless we daily leave ourselves behind at the foot of His cross and pick up with His eternal burden. The faith of our Lord is that He will suffer many a horrible things in the weeks and months to come. He will suffer from the hands of those that He has most compassion for; He is the Father's direct offer of compassion. He see's this time as proving of His oath and understanding of the compassion of His Father. Not unconditional by our odd standards but, so much more effective towards the eternal.
March31 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:22:15-22 WHY TEMPT YE ME - Even today men seek to catch Him in a lie or contradiction, to entangle/corner Him in His talk. They present their question with flowery praise, the good lord, good prophet, good teacher, but, it is all done to disprove Him to believers or potential believers. They counsel together on the internet, in the class rooms, in the courts and temples. They come in both religious and political varieties. Strange/unlikely bed fellows intermix to come against Him. How do we know/spot them? By just that At the core they are hypocrites You will notice that the argument is over a penny, small change when it comes to the loftier things of God. With Simon kjv@Matthew:17:25-27 Jesus had made it a point that during an captivity/occupation tribute is extracted heavily from the occupied in order to lessen the burden on the true citizen. The Jews had whistled their self sovereignty away by rejecting the Lord and were now being taxed for it by their conquerers. The coin is Caesars just as they are. kjv@Luke:23:2 Jesus is accused of exactly the opposite of what He has said at least twice now. They are utter hypocrites. They puff Him up to tear Him down, they intellectually place Him in positions that they think impossible to defend when He is not in that position to begin with, they bring questions that are of little consequence to the overall debate. Render to God what is God's? They cannot, it is no longer their's to render. The faith of our Lord is in knowing that we will be met by such people. Though we give these people too much importance given their track record, though we might think they are finally coming around to see things as we do, they are constantly there and the same regardless. He believes that the truth will be proven out, the truth about Him, the truth about them.
April2 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:22:34-40 THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS - When Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law and the prophets kjv@Matthew:5:17 now basically He is saying that He came to love. Likewise we should love, but, without believing on Him first we find that we are unable to love to this extent. For most people love is this large nebulous puffy cloud of whatever they want it to be. How do you love God with all heart/soul/mind when you know nothing about Him, when He is merely whatever you want Him to be? Likewise, how do you love yourself and thus your neighbor without knowing the type of love God has for you? God's love very well could be shown in His law convincing us of our sin and the need for change, our inability to that of ourselves. God's love could be shown in the prophets pointing us to the single person from which that change is possible. God's love could be shown in that while we were yet sinners He sent His Son to become the propitiation for our sins. How does one love to the full extent without such blessed knowledge? Does and mom and dad truly love their dear newborn child without first knowing the actual love of God? Can a child be raised in true love having any doubt or reservation or false pretense about God's hand and doing? If not a child then how so a neighbor? And the prophets, had they not constantly told us where God was going with this, would we not have known who Jesus would be, what He would do, and where to look for Him? So a question is asked to tempt Him, a question that they probably know the same answer, love. Two opposite directions occur at the point of believing on Jesus, man's and God's. The faith of our Lord is that these two commandments properly seen and practiced will revolutionize the lives of it's adherents. His love which is the Fathers love will shine through to our love, our true love will be made to sprout. Our love separated from His love is darkness. His love separate from Jesus is imaginary.
April4 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:23:1-39 MOSES SEAT - There is a place of honor and respect given by Jesus to Moses and the seat that remains that is to be carried on by His disciples. The life of a follower is a completely different mindset however because it is focused on Christ. Righteousness now is inputed because of His sacrifice and a new life is enabled because of His resurrection. This is what the Law had been pointing us to. Without the righteousness of Christ none of this is remotely possible. The woes described of the Scribes and Pharisees are more properly woes to any man who pursues righteousness minus Christ regardless of affiliation. In a sense these men are the most zealous and ardent of all religious men, but, this is the closest men's efforts can come to the target. Take the commandment to love the Lord your God. If Christ Jesus is God's offer of righteousness and such offer is pushed aside, how can it be said God is loved? Having justified not loving God in His entirety, what else then can be justified? Are not all the commandments broken at that point? The seat still holds authority (even if held by others) especially as schoolmaster over to those who have not received Christ, but, also to those who have. Do as they bid but, not as they do. It is almost a challenge to show them how in Christ things must be done. Remember that if God did not want them in the seat, they would not be in the seat. Today, these particular affiliations are not in power, but, others just as hypocritical often are. There is a means and a purpose in the life of the believer for this. Given all of these woes and faults the Lord's command has never been to pack up and start up anew. The faith of our Lord is firm, we must follow His lead. We don't have to know why it is this way only that He see's it as such. We are challenged considerably, we grow. We do as He see's fit in the midst of such darkness, He is honored. A rebel? no. A revolutionary? Yes!
April20 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:27:11-26 WHETHER OF THE TWAIN - One man washes his hands of the blood guilt and the others pour it on to their heads of themselves and their children. Blood by both is made lite of. One cannot be innocent of the blood simply by washing their hands of the matter. The fact is that matters were poorly and unjustly handled in the first place. Pilate proved coward to the pressures of the Sanhedrin. Others cannot take such minute opinion of any man's life so as to not guarantee a safe and judicious proceedings, so as to not be driven by impulse or shrewd coercion. After all Jesus had done to reveal the sinful hypocrisy and false teaching and spiritual callous blindness of the Pharisees/the Sadducee/the Scribes the make up the Sanhedrin, for the general public to be so easily intimidated and manipulated is a sin equal to that of Judas even if this had not been Christ. What then of the evidences in favor, the many and daily healings, the exorcisms, the wondrous and picturesque sermons, the miracles, the possible ties to long held prophecy, the hope of Israel? Were these possibilities no factor to them at all? The blood stains of guilt cannot be washed away. The price of guilt cannot be negotiated by the guilty parties involved. Jesus' blood is meant to redeem but, if it is not accepted as such it becomes a terrible pronouncement of guilt; guilt then, guilt today. There is a notorious thief that is given amnesty by us even at this hour. He is the embodiment of our being so easily turned and manipulated and used as a driving wedge between justice and those that must judge. Perhaps the greatest revelation of our hearts by Jesus was taught without a word. The faith of our Lord is not in the present but, in the future. It is a future ripped free from the clutches of man's continuous evil imagination and heart that is deceptive above all else. It may be a good time to review kjv@Proverbs:1:20-33 in consideration of this particular multitude and then ours.
April24 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:27:57-61 DISCIPLES - There are twelve men (now eleven) that we use the specific title Disciple for. There are many others even in high places, even secretive that we use the more general term disciple for as well. Three are mentioned early on at the tomb burying Jesus (A forth Nicodemus reported by John). The two men in particular are members of the Sanhedrin and are thereby given consent for burial and possession of the body by Pilate. Joseph is elsewhere described as a counselor, the word having direct ties to this governing body. Pilate may have seen these men as "non consenting" to the crucification but, surely not as pupils of the convicts' teachings. Had the major disciples attempted such they would have either been detained to squelch any possible uprising or they would have brought intense criticism as to the validity of the burial should something happen to the body under his watch. In these two men Pilate would find a comfortable political solution to the awkward/crucial issue of what to do with the body. These disciples are very important to birth and history of the church, as much as any other even though they were somewhat hidden away. There is very little that we have to go on to know how much of this Jesus had prepared for or how much that he had left to come about organically or by the Spirit. My guess would be all of the above. The more obvious evidence is that He had the faith to leave it to capable hands after His departure. The faith of our Lord is in the ability of His Father and His Holy Spirit. It is in peoples and places we may not have considered friendly to our cause. It is in the emotional but thoughtful obedience and effort of some loving women fearless that would attend to Him. It is in peoples two thousand years still having access to their testimonies that will come to believe. It is in a stone being rolling away, human eyes peeking in to see an Angel sitting at the foot of uninhabited burial linens and a folded napkin. It is in four women running back to the house to tell the others in the dawn's early light. Our Lord's faith is most supreme!
May7 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:2:13-17 HEARD IT - Some one has either told Jesus or He has caught the sounds in the corner of His ear that there is growing displeasure with Him eating and drinking with sinners. I don't know whether the religious elite are still holding out a chance for Him as it would be hard to deny His miraculous powers or whether they have outright given up. I do believe that there is something substantial going on culturally that modern audiences would not be attuned to; Jesus is being radical to their viewpoint. Often the best teaching is not discussed it is exposed. Jesus is not going to them and partaking in their sin, He is going out like a physician to where they are and gracefully calling them to establish the ground work of something much better. If that means eating in a room of them, then by all means. Contact with one man leads to the man inviting His circle of friends. These friends are coming to partake of their own friendships and because of their trust in their host in turn they trust in His goodness. No doubt fame precedes Him here but, even without fame the trust building process works the same; why not build upon what is already there? Other's fear the associations that may be implied, if one hangs out with sinners one must be a sinner. The faith of our Lord is not afraid of such possible negative associations, He is afraid of what may happen to these people should He not reach out. In His eyes He is a physician and physicians go where people are sick. He does not partake in their sickness, he partakes in the future fellowship that might come should He be able to win their further trust.
May14 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:4:1-20 WITHIN WITHOUT WAYWARD - This is a foundational parable that helps us to understand the rest. Principal one is that it is not given for others to receive the payload understanding of these parables; the revelation of said parable is a Jesus to sanctified believer exclusive, spiritually discerned. In fact, no man can come to it complete with out living and proving it out which requires a strong devotion to Christ. Theoretically, a class of college senors can analyze a Jesus parable and probably come to the same initial message that a believer can, maybe to another level or two, but that is as far as they can take it. Because they do not believe in Jesus it holds no further interest, any further meaning is stolen away. Many religions can be/have been formed from borrowing the superficial understandings of these parables; this is what Jesus has always strived to protect Himself from. However, by believing squarely in the righteousness of Jesus the desire will be to search out and grow into the message further. The message has to be applied into the daily life of a believer and experienced fully before the payload Jesus is revealing comes to fruition. The heart to apply oneself to it's growth is where the difficulty comes, as some believers lack the root, others lack the valor and fortitude, others lack the will to keep worldly influences weeded out. As hard as it is for believers to come to this knowledge without sincerity and endurance it is outright impossible for the insincere and academic critic. The faith of Jesus does not cast it's pearls before the swine and it cannot be counterfeited nor universalized. This is utter foolishness to the wise and learned, but, this foolishness is deliberately made to be our wisdom. Take this introductory understanding into the remaining parables and your efforts to live/grow into this word will yield plenty fruit.
May25 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:6:45-56 IT IS I - Jesus is pushing the Disciples hard to understand something very important, something that they did not understand in the first pass with the loaves. There is a hardness/resistance there with them against this teaching that must be broken up. In order to do this He has them work frantically against the wind to save their own lives. The similarity to the message of the loaves is being intensified and personalized. It is a spiritual teaching remember where the Disciple is doing what he is told but, is long getting nowhere, barely maintaining the position to this point reached. How many times in the course of ministry are we found at the same point with our faith (even our lives at times) out on the line and the waves that could end it all are closing in all around us? Why was it Jesus was just going to walk on by? He wasn't, He was waiting for them to recognize Him. Up to now it had been their effort only, their fishes and loaves, but the situation before them was humanly impossible, improbable by nature and supernaturally unheard of. Had they simply asked Him to join on board and help the rowing effort it would still be their futile effort with an extra oarsman. Instead, had they called out to Jesus to rebuke the wind, do that which no man can do, their fulfillment of the task at hand would have gone much smoother. The few fish and the loaves amongst many, paddling against life threatening gail forces are all a part of obedience and serving this Lord. These are not meant to be lessons of learning defeat, they are meant to be moments of calling God to do the impossible; all in the course of obeying His will. The faith of our Lord is the faith of a master teacher. Certain lessons have to be learned, but, we find mere words often sell the lesson short. Teaching spiritual things often requires physical examples, physical experiences, even fearful adrenaline and sore amazement. If the Lord appears to you only as some ghostly spirit in these times you know that you are not recognizing Him for what He is and what Lord over all things He needs to be in your life. IT IS I.
June3 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:9:14-32 FAITHLESS GENERATION - Who is faithless here? The disciples who despite their anointing to do this failed having not fasted nor prayed? The man whose faith was small and asked for more? The scribes that were using the opportunity to publicly belittle the ministry? The crowds that gather to watch the knock down drag out cage match? What if it was all of them but not just any one of them individually? There is an inclusiveness in the word generation that needs to be pondered. Disciples affect a mans faith, the two affect the fanatical scribes, the three affect the crowd's temperament. Likewise, the crowd's affect the scribes which affects the man's which affect the disciple's. Could they all be part of one larger organism? Is that what a faithless generation looks like? If so, how does one escape? The faith of our Lord is that if one can believe, all things are possible. It is not just any belief, it is not the belief in the healing itself, it is the belief in the power and authority of Christ. The person and presence of Christ instills that belief and confidence. Anointing alone cannot account for everything. Prayer and fasting are both ways to refocus on the person and presence of Christ. This instills faith and helps to quiet/counter all criticism.
June6 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:9:42-50 LITTLE ONES THAT BELIEVE IN ME - Jesus, not to be distracted, continues with child in arm "And" or furthermore. We were talking service over perceived rank, we continue one step further with anyone with rank that scandalizes/entraps to trip or stumble/entices to sin or apostasy anyone lesser, in this case a vulnerable believer. The occasion would be for a priest, a teacher, a professor, a counselor, an officer or one impersonating one, a parent grandparent or immediate relative or family friend, anyone with the implied suggestion of authority over the youth/pupil/patient/client/parishioner up to and including king or president. The daily news is filled with cases where authority has been occasion for wicked sin and perversion. How much more goes un-reported? The classrooms are filled with persuasive coercion and acidic secular proselytization. The courts and prisons are filled with horrific domestic abuses. Worst of all the Church itself for some has come to symbolize molestation and pedophilia of the most egregious offense of authority. Where is the service to God? Jesus makes absolutely clear what His judgment will be of these people; He repeats it five times worms and hell fire. For those who argue for God's unconditional compassion it needs to be understood where compassion has to surely end in order to be compassion at all. If you think about all it's possible forms, the tentacles reach everywhere. It indeed would be better that before offending the offender would cut or pluck the body part off, but, they won't. That the disease has affected the Church which Jesus set out not to be authoritative in this sense shows how far these tentacles can reach. In face of this we that remain are to have salt ourselves and peace one with another. The faith of our Lord knows the necessity of certain levels of authority but, teaches without distraction against it's selfish propagations and abuses. It is clearly a fault and tendency of all human nature, however the Church must particularly be on the guard for such offenses and mark out each and every offender without tolerance nor delay.
June8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:10:13-16 FORBID THEM NOT - It is an encouraging sign of reverence that parents would bring children up to Jesus to be touched. That the disciples were rebuked for holding them back shows me that the event was not staged. Part of their discipleship no doubt was to hold back crowds allowing Jesus more room to operate. There must of have been a reason that they thought it best to hold back the children either for their safety or for their interruption or their encouragement of others. The parents on the other hand must have felt a let down, perhaps understanding but, still dejected. It is one form of worship to come to Jesus as an adult. It is another to encourage your children to do what you perhaps would be too shy to do yourself, actually go up to be touched. It shows an understanding of Jesus on these parent's part. The children themselves may not understand what is going on and all the oddity and controversy surrounding it. They are much more inquisitive and experiential. No doubt they sense that this man is a man of importance, He garners an interesting crowd, but, He also seems unusually friendly and approachable. That someone would wish to hold me off from Him makes me want to meet Him all the more. Perhaps I have to step around people and make my way through the tight corridors of stationary bodies but, He beacons me. And as I am touched, and my sister, and friends there with me, He speaks as if this the way all the town folk should be, brave enough to meet Him, calm enough to enjoy His gentle hand, joyful enough to look back on my parents and acknowledge that they put me up to something I genuinely enjoy. I will remember this man as the friendly important stranger I met. The faith of our Lord is that men and women of all ages can adopt the heart of a child. It is possible. The crowds grinding at Him would be a whole lot different if they were filled with truth and joy seeking adventurers. They would be different to Him and different to each other. For one thing they would allow themselves to be touched, some deeply, to the point of being reverent.
June9 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:10:17-31 WITH MEN IMPOSSIBLE - Perhaps it was the innocent presumption and brashness of youth that made Jesus to smile, a youth talking about since he was young, a law had not yet worn down such adolescent confidence. No man can uphold the law just as no man can completely surrender to Christ unless it is God who makes him. The belief is often that riches are the blessing of obedience to God, the lack of riches the curse of disobedience. If so what reason would the rich man have to change anything that he is doing. Yet there is an emptiness or discomfort in the lad concerning eternity, perhaps the closest thing to truth he has said. Jesus counters that the true blessing is not from following the law but following Him who fulfilled the law. The riches from that extend much further into both this life and the next. Even those who have in fact given up all they have struggle to keep separated the doing it in a sense of duty to the law with reward verses doing it as an reverent response to the work of Christ regardless. Throughout the chapter there has been the theme of becoming as children. The adult mind has made entrance to heaven a needle's eye, the child's mind has few self imposed limits. The work of Christ makes the believer to perceive himself as a child, to look at her godly life through the lens of a child, the work of God makes all things even Christ work upon them possible. It does not come without persecution however. The faith of our Lord is that given the impossibility of any man coming to this themselves that it will be His Father alone that will bring this eternal salvation and all that comes with it to light. Who then can be saved? He who God makes to be saved who then follows.
June19 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:12:18-27 DO YE NOT ERR - It is obvious in the scriptures that the Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection and we know from encounters with them after Jesus in Acts that they were not convinced by this argument. They come like the others to trap Jesus, to shore up their own believers for the sentencing immediately ahead by means of stark theological differentiation. This also shows us why that they can be so bold in seeking Jesus death; they do not believe that He can raise again. The raising from the dead is so central to the approach Jesus is taking that it appears as a severe weakness to those who believe it impossible. Over and over the scriptures directly speak of and confirm resurrection, from Job to Ezekiel and others, and is implied in nearly everything else said including the phrases God of Jacob, God of Abraham, etc... I do not see Old Testament evidence that men and women will not marry after the resurrection; Jesus' argument almost seems to be "who ever said that they will". As the reason for marriage is for man not to be alone and for procreation and the weakness of the flesh, resurrection then is saying that man is no longer alone and no longer procreating and no longer weak; why then would there be need for marriage. As much as the Sadducees knew about the scriptures they really knew very little. They, like others have a form of godliness but, deny the power thereof. The power of God is proven in the resurrection. The power of God is proven in that what has been sown in corruption can be raised in incorruption. The faith of our Lord is firmly in not only His own resurrection but, that from His resurrection all others will be resurrected as well; some to eternal fellowship and some to eternal contempt. If Jesus does in fact raise from the dead then they do greatly err. If He does not, then the rest of the Bible they say they believe does greatly err. I guess they error either way. How great then is that?
June27 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:14:32-42 SPIRIT WILLING FLESH WEAK - Would you consider falling asleep a sin? It could be if you were in trusted to post the watch. It would be if you had been commanded to (regardless of lives depending on it or not). The spirit may be ready but the flesh is weak. So how did Jesus want the three to counter act that weakness? To pray lest they enter into temptation. Temptation? What is the temptation? The pull of the flesh. What was the pull of the flesh in this case? To sleep and to take offense. The disciples had vowed to be by His side and no doubt they fully intended it. How did Jesus know that they would scatter away tonight offended? Because He would ask them to do something spiritual that they would only be able to do having received the strength to do it from the Father by prayer. The flesh pulled them away from receiving that strength. In contrast the Lord worked through the pull of His flesh by locking Himself onto a tractor beam of prayer. The sore amazement, the heaviness over the agonizing cup He was about to drink, the wrestling of His own will would perhaps have been too much had He not asked for and received the strength from the Father by His prayers. There are a great many things we've been asked to do that we fully intend to do but, the flesh has pulled us away. Maybe not in Ten Commandment kind of ways but, in deserting our post kind of ways, in dosing off kind of ways that leaves these things mostly undone. We can resolve by our own strength to do these things but, truly it is only by the strength received by prayer. Our spirit is ready for His strength to overcome the pull of flesh, but, we have not because we ask not. Jesus did ask. Jesus was able to complete His obedience. We have the feeling that He had asked us to do something He knew we couldn't do and when we fail somehow we get offended. I heard a wise man say today that "victory is not won it is received". The faith of our Lord is that when He asks us to do something near impossible (by our own resources) in the future that we will remember His similar "up against the impossible" example and pray for the strength required lest we enter into temptation, the pull of the flesh.
July3 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:15:21-32 SCRIPTURE FULFILLED - The best explanation of what Jesus is going through is kjv@Psalms:22 prophesied nearly 1000 years before. The details are excruciating and graphic. Essentially two horrific things are converging upon Him at once, the sins of mankind past present future being transfered upon Him as with the symbolic Levitical sacrificial lambs, because of that sin the departing/forsaking of the Father never felt by Him prior in all eternity. The physical pain must be intense no doubt, but probably the least of His grief and ill. You think about the weight of the horrid sins of man like vile mass hatred and murder, rape and pillage, the woeful sins of oppression and bondage, the perversions of lust, the passive sins of idleness and unclaimed/stolen potential, how all this adds up to a terrible nausea/dizziness throbbing within Him. To that you add the loss of Himself to His Father; He is doing this in obedience to the Father and it is a great thing, but, the Father can not be with Him at this point because of the transference. No doubt He is in prayer throughout this ordeal to try to regain focus, the madness of all men laid upon must make it exceedingly difficult, but His prayer minus the Father's hand must seem vacant. What is there left Him to cling to in amidst this torrent except the expectation of a promise? We tend to think of the real suffering of Jesus to be after death perhaps in a hell. Though possible, much of that is conjecture/secular tradition. I believe the worst of His suffering to be now (what more could be done to His soul?). The faith of our Lord continues on however. It in essence is to simply obey the Father, trust that HE will at the right time pull Him through this all. This is paying the purchase price of redemption and what a price it is. We should not forget nor under appreciate what is being laid upon Him from all angles nor underestimate the cost to Him/Father in securing the forgiveness of our immense debts. It should vibrate through every cell in our bodies giving us new and substantial spiritual life.
July9 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:1:26-38 NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE - We have a pattern shown to us already in this book of our (man's) common reaction to things when revealed by God; we limit things to our own field of understanding. Time after time old testament and new a man/women is dropped in on by a messenger and uniformly we behave like a doubt filled and defensive timid bird. Who will this be? How shall I know? I am but a stuttering man? My lips are unclean? These are common reactions. By just reading spirituality from a book I doubt that we realize how large and grand and unfathomable these spiritual things are. But when confronted face to face, when it is our own life and our own safety and our own well being we attempt to hide ourselves as it were in the wide open, reduce things down to the improbable or impossible. Gabriel and his crew have a difficult job dealing with the sons of men. We are always spooked. We are truly disbelieving and suspicious types. We have to be talked to in short picture like packets with constant reassurance and explanation. We are both short and blind sighted, highly imaginative and think we know much more about the larger scope than we actually know. It is natural however given our unfamiliarity with the spiritual. Mary responds better than most coming to a trust without much further struggle. God is still dealing one on one with the individual players which should be expected. The faith of our Lord knows what He is dealing with with humans. We are made in the image of God so that there is much that is recognizable, but in his present state there is something exceedingly damaged even in the best of us or introverted spiritually. By the God becoming the flesh of man He will be more recognizable and less threatening to man (perhaps too much so). It is however the way He chose so it must be the way that is best.
July10 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:1:39-45 FROM THE LORD - The Holy Ghost speaks through Elizabeth in song. Notice that It mentions two Lords, a Lord that sends Gabriel to tell of the things that will be performed, a Lord that is the fruit of Mary's womb. David had earlier sung of a "Lord of my Lord" which points to a Father and Son, the Son existing already at that time. Apostle writers also confirm the the Son was there before creation and that all things were created by the Father through the Son for the Son and are being gathered back unto Him. It is scripturally possible then that this is the Son that made His own preparations ahead of His incarnation. At the point of Mary's conception the Lord gives Himself fully to the absolute of becoming an embryonic human. By doing so, the Lord gives Himself completely into the hands of the Father, the Holy Ghost who will guide and orchestrate, and Mary who will nurture and raise Him as a child. Mary truly is blessed among women for being willing participant in this one time event. On our Lords part it is as much of a sacrifice for the Father as He will make for us thirty three years from now. Knowing in advance our nature, our rejection and treatment of Him, yet knowing the purposes of the Father in sending Him He willingly goes. Mary willingly receives. The Holy Ghost moves forward with the announcements and revelations. The mission is on. It is the faith of our Lord that this is the moment, this is the woman, this is the aunt to carry this His messenger, this is the earthly location, this is the objective, these are the preparations that have been finalized. All of mankind will be touched by this, those that receive Him will be saved into a glorious eternity.
July16 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:2:21-40 REVEALOR - Hopefully you've noticed how much the Holy Spirit has been involved so far. The child has yet to say a word and already we know so much about Him. Notice also how the Spirit is working, through individuals, to individuals. Simeon is used to reveal further information to Mary and Joseph; how many others hear this conversation we do not know. Anna thanked God before them as a separate confirmation, she speaks of Him to all them that looked for redemption however that was surely over the course of time as few (if any) of these saints would have been present at the temple on this day. Already we have a good many in Galilee, the surrounds of Bethlehem and a very influential prophetess at the temple in Jerusalem are all aware of a strong and curious spiritual possibility. Though others may not yet be aware they have been prepared just the same. Jesus is foretold to come to reveal the hearts of men, the Spirit is shown to be the revealor of Jesus, having prepared the mission "before the face of all people". kjv@John:16:8-11 further explains the Spirit's role post accession of reproving the world of sin, sin in direct relation to our belief and treatment of Christ Jesus as revealed. To Mary the Spirit impresses that all will not go as expected, this will mean the fall and rising of many in Israel and will be for a sign spoken against, personally painful like a sword into her heart. Jesus will be? No, our reaction to Jesus will be. Mary/Joseph pay the poor man's version of the Levitical first born's redemption this day, but, will pay a much greater price through the months and years to come. The faith of Lord is in a very hard and very difficult road ahead, impossible for anyone other than the true Messiah (as need be). It will be hard for Him, hard for His parents, hard for His disciples and followers, hard for us. It will not come by the goodness of men's hearts, nor their tolerance, nor their sense of righteousness or judgment. It will come by God's grace and performance of mercy. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit...
July27 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:5:27-32 FOLLOW ME - Only people that know that they are sinners would know that they have need to repent, turn, follow. Those that don't consider themselves as such have absolutely no use for what Jesus would have to offer. I am not sure in today's terms that we understand how despised and hated tax collectors of that day were. This is yet another "in your face" move by Jesus. This reception would be difficult for even the loyal yet timid disciples, it would be revolting to the common citizen, it would be outright excruciating for a Pharisee or their scribe. But because of the undeniable command of matters Jesus is having this act must be fully considered (and for some countered). Matthew (Levi) is a truly inspiring story. Matthew not only leaves his lucrative position behind, he throws a huge reception and invites numerous friends over to meet Jesus. He puts on a huge feast. How many of us would be willing to do that for our Lord? Maybe for some this would be name dropping. Maybe for others this would be pomp ahead of his own career sacrifice. Jesus surely does not see it this way however else He would not be there. There is something important to notice here (many things); the importance of the balance of healing and teaching and public associations and staying on the offensive. The Pharisees have now made their decision about Jesus, but because they cannot explain away the mass healings for instance they cannot completely put down the teachings nor the associations. Because they must turn public perception they must somehow turn public associations that they themselves do not have. They are having to take hit and run sniper shots to remind the crowds of their disapproving presence. Really, how would you go about telling a blind man that can now see that he was healed by a devil or a leper that Jesus didn't actually have the power to forgive? That this was all a trick? Trick or not, they stand healed and sensing that they are forgiven. Likewise, how do you tell a reception of people that you have physical disdain for yourself anyway that they cannot congregate in this manner around this man? That He should not congregate with them? This is bold in deed. And it all is possible because of the balance of the many separate things that Jesus is doing right working together as a whole to multiply the effect of His ministry. Maddening it would be to to be on the other side of this tremendous unstoppable momentum. The faith of our Lord has no problem being with the people who need Him and desire to be with Him most. He doesn't mind even the occasional party to meet and greet a new disciples friends. There is a sincerity and a purity in this even when others might think that He is getting Himself dirty.
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.
August11 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:8:19-21 HEAR AND DO - Like His own family it is possible for some to not believe at all. It is possible that some want to believe, but their expectation of Him differs from who He actually is and what He must do. It is possible the some believe, but have yet to do. What is it to do? kjv@1John:3:23 simplifies it "believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another". How do we love? Jesus just gave a parable saying to receive the seed into good ground, keep out that which might wither or choke the word off; He just spoke of a light to those that entered in, were revealed and transformed, raised up His light as a body. It would be nice to think that one just set themselves to loving. Man is incapable of this kind of love however apart from it being a fruit of the Spirit. Doing good as any unregenerate man would do, doing a compassion is one thing; one would not be required even to "hear the word of God" as it would come naturally. This is not the type of doing Jesus is talking about. kjv@John:13:15-17 We should follow our Lord's example. It maybe early on in the developing faiths of His own family; this is not said to discourage them. This puts all men and women on equal footing "he who hears to do it". There is just as much opportunity for any of us should we take it. The faith of our Lord is that many will take Him up on this, not just love with our corrupted forms of love, but have that love revealed and transformed in His light and Spirit, have His love and our love for Him motivate us into doing as He has done. We have the proof that at least two of His half brothers James (the less) and Judas (Jude) took Him up on this at some point, likely several others if not all.
August24 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:10:38-42 CAREFUL AND TROUBLED - My experience would tell me that Martha is the elder sister, though there is no proof. This may not be the only time that the sisters have differed as to their priorities. And it is not to say that Martha is terribly wrong here. This is the way she has been brought up, likely the expectation placed upon her early on by her mom as the elder. In her mind receiving Jesus means providing every comfort and necessity for Him and His guests almost to obsession. It is the servants heart but to the extreme. She would be this regardless of the occasion most likely. Her sister on the other hand is wise to Martha's obsessiveness. There are certainly demands placed upon the hostess but there is also a point where the effort crosses over into obsession and near destructive hostility. I doubt that Martha really intended to criticize Jesus "do you really not care", but that was how far she had let her anger canker. Seems the more this personality type festers the more that they try to take on themselves until they explode. Jesus isn't saying don't be a hospitable host, He is saying come sit and join us, enjoy this evening and this company as well. It is not worth being a gracious hostess if being a gracious hostess means being so troubled and ugly. And it is not to say that Mary is completely in the right if it means that she has put her sister in this impossible situation. I think though in this case Martha has put herself (or that it is an ingrained part of her) that has brought this unexpected interruption to cloud over the otherwise pleasant evening. Martha is careful and troubled about many things. She probably feels that if she doesn't trouble who will? Jesus doesn't expect anyone to trouble this much over Him; if so He would have taken the meeting outside or out into the wilderness. Sometimes trouble is done for the sake of trouble; it is an adverse reaction to importance. There is a better portion, a balance that allows one to serve and care for her guests but lets her relax at the feet and be engaged with the Savior that truly graces her house with His presence. I feel like I've known this woman several times over and I feel for her(s). The faith of our Lord is not to be an extra burden on His children but to be their only burden. He has said to take upon yourself His yoke for His burden it is lite. Perhaps we all should re-examine what we think we are doing for the Lord and what it is that we have added to ourselves and are then demanding of others that is not actually required. Else, we may find ourselves blaming the Lord without intending so. I trust that Martha eventually found this balanced portion. Being aware of the problem is half of the cure. One thing... personal acquaintance/engagement with Jesus is needful.
September9 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:13:31-35 PERFECTED - At first I was having a difficult time finding much to go on in this passage. I am now wondering why certain Pharisees would want Jesus high tailing it the other way. Jesus doesn't really come down on them. There is certainly enormous pressure building up as Jesus has publicly announced His intentions to go to Jerusalem, He has sent many disciples out ahead to the towns that He will go through to get there. These Pharisees use Herod as the reason for the warning, but it could well be their fear of Herod's reaction upon them that they fear the most. Herod has recently killed several Galileans in the Temple and mixed their blood with the daily sacrifice; a vivid message meant for the Temple elite, not so much for Jesus. It is essentially the Herods' temple built for the Jews. Jesus' reply may never make it back to Herod as it would put it's messengers in an impossible even deadly position. No, the Pharisees are going to have to come up with a better plan. Jesus will not back down and is probably amused by this most transparent effort. The faith of our Lord is moving ahead toward His completed work. As much pressure as there is from all sides round Him, as much as that pressure now is intensifying to a head, He is not phased nor distracted. Fearless? In many respects, but not without a painful nervousness (the weight of doing this Himself for the world) that needs to be prayed over. He'll soon be sweating blood. It is better understood as obedience beyond any measure.
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.
September21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:17:20-37 LIGHTNING - If you are looking for the Kingdom of God don't follow where others tell you to look, that it is a place, a political/economic system, a particular denomination or cult; the Kingdom is within/inside you. If you are looking for the second advent don't think that Jesus will slowly appear in California to re-establish a group of latter day followers, He will appear as a bolt of lightening from one end of the heavens to the other. This message is spoken throughout prophecy. The second coming is nothing like the first. It will not be "I wonder if this is so". It will be sudden immediate determined judgment (and not the final judgment even). If there is the time to think back on all of the possessions you will leave behind, don't do it. If there is a brief moment to turn and look back on your city, don't do it. This is not a "pull all the data together to finally decide" moment, this is a "decisions already been made and lived forward for sometime... now it's time to go" half second. This is not the light of regular lightning as well. A ray of light from one end of the physical heavens to the other would take billions of years to travel. This is the pinnings of space and time abruptly superseded by something much more powerful, something (shall we say "someone") at the same time snatching His followers up and away. How can this then be explained by those that do not get raptured up? The message and implications will be perfectly clear to them. If this in fact happens early in the tribulation as many believe, the ugly time that follows is the workings of God condemned souls that seek to put forward a full fledged rebellion against God. Not a few souls, nearly all, and with extreme hatred. The great deception may be that they actually think that they can stage this rebellion against God and win. The Anti Christ not only becomes anticipated but welcome. The flushing out of remaining nominal Christians and Jews by economic and legal means becomes number one priority. The mark of the beast is worn with extreme pride. A worldwide celebration remember is broadcast with people exchanging gifts when the final two great prophets are executed. How can any of this be possible unless such a vile defiance and "in your face God" rebellion has not become the absolute worldwide cause. The faith of our Lord is a tremendous thing when His love and mercy for us is considered. However at this particular unprecedented moment all things change like at no other moment (save Adam and Eve's perhaps). There will be no turning back, not for Him, not for believers, not for those left behind. His lightning is not a mere line drawn in the sand, it is a vast gulf that none can traverse save the relatively few tribulation saints. There will be a final final judgment. It will not be sudden. Everyone of these evil men will look back on this rebellion, and know that He is God, and will have only to bow their knee and confess Him as God before accepting their rightful eternal sentence. It is crazy how much of the picture we don't see that Jesus does.
October5 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:20:27-40 GOD OF THE LIVING - It is amazing how many doctrines and layers of doctrine can be built from one wrong assumption. If wrong in this one area, how many other areas can one be wrong with? Add all the layers up and you can see how easy it is to live a religious life that believes in the same name of the one and only God, but is as wrong as wrong can get. Bring that truth forward into today's universalist notion that "all paths lead to God". A path derived from the assumption that there is no resurrection leads to a outlook and experience that differs from outlook and experience of others. It leads to a different perception of the necessity of Christ for salvation (salvation from what?). It is this perception and the many other possible combinations that allow one to rationalize the procedures necessary to kill off the Christ that stands today before them. How then do all paths lead to God if most paths lead to replacing Him? What the "all paths" argument is actually saying is that God is a big enough person to excuse these murderous (physically, intellectually, theologically) idolaters who blaspheme the work and testimony of the Holy Spirit, completely shun the design and plan of God the Father and disregard the sacrifice made on their behalf by God the Son. What this God is is whatever one wants Him to be; He is nothing more than a vain imagination. Do all paths lead then to a vain imagination? If even the believers of the one God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can go astray at several essential points, what hope have the many would don't even believe that? The faith of our Lord is that man will not only be in heaven eternally, man will be on an equal footing with the angels that are already there. There is quite the transformation that has to occur between here and there. It is a transformation that only His death and resurrection can make on us. If God is the God of the living, then and now, how many of the living will have accepted Him for the God He actually is?
October8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:21:5-38 POSSESS YOUR SOULS - At a time when all of this is happening around you the command is "In your patience possess ye your souls". It would be easy for the heart to be over charged, men's hearts failing them for fear, being distress and perplexed. This is not however the heart of the follower of Jesus. Listen to the commands stated here - go ye not therefore after them, be not terrified, settle it therefore in your hearts, in your patience possess your souls, then look up, lift hands, know that the kingdom is nigh, take heed to yourselves, watch ye therefore, pray always to be found worthy. It would be easy for the mind to chase after only the maze of prophetical details. One could ask how are all these odd un-connectable details ever connect to be fulfilled. The Jews looked upon the earlier messianic prophecies the same way and saw the near impossibility of putting all the prophetic pieces together. So much so that they missed the actual fulfillment happening before their eyes in real time. It was really quite easy to put all the many pieces together once we saw how easily God fulfilled them. These end time prophecies could very well be the same for us; illogical or impossible to see as one completed puzzle, but there is no doubt God will have an easy time preforming them all as one as well. More than the individual details revealed, we should consider that within the many details is a fairly straight forward way of keeping ones head through the time to come; obey the commandments contained therein. They are nearly the same commands that would see us through most any other trial or personal tribulation. One other thought. When this time comes what has ever happened to all the tolerant secularists and intellectuals? What has happened to humanism and pacifism and the great enlightenment? Why are they attacking the elect so? Could it be that they cannot withstand the terrors and perplexities of what is come? The faith of our Lord calls a whole lot upon the obedience of these end time saints. The things that they are asked to do and suffer is almost for to shame to us who have it so good now. It may not be their time now, but it certainly is our time now. What have we been asked to do and suffer? Should not we get to doing it before this time sneaks up unawares?
October12 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:22:47-53 YOUR HOUR - The guards are there under orders, they are going to do what they are sent out to do. One has to wonder though what they are thinking individually as Jesus heals their buddy's ear. I believe that these are Temple guards; pretty easy uneventful duty til now. They are probably as unfamiliar with wielding a sword as is fisherman Peter. They are no doubt familiar with the crowds of followers Jesus has drawn to the Temple daily and the calls of Hosanna and probably not so familiar with the arguments being tallied by their bosses the Sanhedrin. Do they also know of the false witnesses being coaxed up? Here the man that has taken them to this park is pointed out by this possible messiah as having betrayed Him with a kiss. This possible prophet has called for calmer peaceful heads to prevail at this time and has questioned the chiefs and elders as to proceeding against Him as a common thief yet oddly in such secrecy as if they knew how the masses would react. Yet of all of this talk the most eerie statement is captain Malchus' ear and the look of startled awe in his eyes. What argument is there against that? The power of darkness is that to those serving it there is no argument involved. One does what one does because there is penalty and consequence to not doing it. One is not paid for thinking through the facts and coming to a rightful judgement. Realize however what these men are forced into questioning. Recall when you were a non-believer and the anxiety you felt approaching anything Jesus related. Translate that tense inner apprehension to these men and amplify it by the obvious fact that you are now called upon to enforce the capture of this Holy Man and take Him even to Pilate (the man who recently slaughtered a host of Galileans on your temple steps just to make a political point). There are times when one ear speaks louder than several mouths. This should have been one of those times. The faith of our Lord is voluntary towards it's duty to the Father. The duty of darkness is demanded and employed and coerced. These men will carry out what they have been directed to no matter what they believe personally, but so too will our Lord Jesus in His hour.
November8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:6:1-15 WHENCE SHALL WE - It says that Jesus knew what He was going to do. He was going to feed over five thousand here on a grassy knoll with whatever they had present. In so doing He was going to examine the hearts of those there with Him; for their sakes. There had to be wondering among the disciples as to how this was going to happen, obviously it could not happen by any earthly means, but that did not stop the disciples from obeying the command and moving forward into the crowd with their baskets. We could say same thing about nearly anything spiritual still today, "how is this going to happen", "there is no earthly way". These things become an examination of our hearts also. Will we obey and move forward? The men could have been made laughing stalks ("What did you think was going to happen? Did you really think?"). They were not. Now is the examination of the crowd. Are you really going to reach up and grab that imaginary piece of something that the silly disciple of this strange man is going to pretend to hand you? It looks like they are handing out something however. Could it be? Now that you have eaten to your complete satisfaction what do you think? Was that fish? Was that barley loaf? Are there really twelve bushel baskets of left overs? Well suddenly, unexplainably, you think that this strange man is not so strange as it first seemed. You are thinking that He very well could be "The Prophet come in to this world". By the utter gasp throughout the crowd you know that others are thinking the very same thing. Some have taken to psalms and dancing, others to contrite prayer, as a whole there is awe and amazement. Now comes the examination of the reader two thousand years after. What, you don't believe in "The Prophet"? "The anointed One"? How could He? How is it? The gasps around you continue; different times, different people, different ways, gasps just the same. People who were once just as skeptical as you; now they too are dancing. You are right actually you know! There is no earthly way; yes. That does not mean that there is no heavenly way however. Why is it that Jesus knows what He is going to do beforehand, but chooses by doing so to examine our hearts? Because our hearts need to be examined. We need to be drawn out of our disbelief and challenged by what is bigger then we are willing to accept. What if one of the disciples just said "no"? "I don't believe in this"? "I am not going to entertain this any longer"? "I don't need to be tested in this way"? "Just say what it is you are going to say and we'll get along to Passover"? What if one of the crowd had stood up and shouted "you are all crazy"? "I'm going back down this hill and getting me some real fish, some smoked fish"? Ask yourself, was there anyone there that day that did this? Why not? We have been talking throughout about witness and testimony. How Jesus on His single testimony alone would not be legally convincing. How that with all the other testimony and the witness of all else that there was no earthly way for things to happen the case is much better made (It is that part this we choose not to believe). And with all of that the realization is made that it is God the Father pointing to this "Prophet" as if He has never before pointed or never again, the evidence is near insurmountable. That the sacrificial Passover depicting the blood of the Passover Lamb and deliverance from bondage is always close in the picture, the proving then is a test of our willingness to step out from our sin by His grace and righteous provision and to move forward. This crowd collectively decided to take Jesus by force to make Him king making the examination both wonderfully passed and horribly failed simultaneously. They are not yet willing to step out from their sin, only ready to make Him the chief of it. The faith of our Lord is that this too will one day pass, and that is why the proving. To get from where a soul is to where it needs to be takes a complete transformation, yet the soul no matter where in this process it is believes that it is already fully arrived. The proving is a reminder that this transformation is not earthly possible. It is heavenly if at all. Continually stepping out and obediently moving forward through this proving is to be our part of this transformation. Whence then shall we?
November18 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:8:42-47 UNDERSTAND MY SPEECH - You may have noticed that everything that Jesus is saying is being taken entirely the wrong way. It is as if He is not talking at all, they cannot hear it. It is not even logical point and counterpoint, it is logical point and outright bastardization. Why is it that His speech cannot be understood? How prevalent is this? We see His opponents doing this, do we see His allies doing this as well? Is it universal? Chances are yes! If we were to add back in the topic from the previous passage of believers/continuers being set free indeed, we may have a clue as to what our bondage largely consists of. He states that the lusts of our father we "will" do; the language suggests that it would be impossible not to do his (the Devil's) lusts unless He Himself (Jesus/Truth) has set us free. At the point of this passage no one has been set free yet. Can we say then at this specific time that no one is from the Father yet and that no one truly loves Jesus? Is there anyone on scene that clearly hears God's words? No; therefore they hear not because they are not yet of God. If this hypothesis is true it would mean that the faith of our Lord is standing utterly alone at this time a complete foreigner to both friend and foe looking forward to a time after the cross when friends one by one would be crossing over into the adoption of the sons of men. Now we should ask whether this same universal condition still exists? For this we must caution believers with the words of kjv@John:8:31-32 that it is not merely the belief in Jesus that sets us free but the continuing in His word as disciples that reveals the truth and then it is this revealed truth that sets us free. If this means free from the bondage of doing the lusts of our former father then we see that continuance toward discipleship must then come first. If this hypothesis is true then it would mean that the Lord stands with some looking out as near strangers at a field of potential masses whose chains have been lifted but have yet to trust and experience the continuance up from the cellars into the open light of discipleship. We must then again ask... are we hearing the word of Jesus so as to continue in it? Do we understand what He is really saying or are we making it out to whatever we want it to be? Are we bastardizing it? As to the points I have already hypothesized about our Lord, one would think "isn't this a terrible and lonely thing we are watching Him go through". To this we must ask "is this not why He came"? The faith of our Lord is in making a way for the completely detached to come unto their true Father. God is their Father, but they have sold themselves over to another. There is no other course for them out unless He purchase them back first. Now maybe we can hear His speech!
November20 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:9:1-12 WORKS OF GOD MANIFEST - We must be very careful not to make this say what it does not. The issue is disease and impairment, specifically prenatal. Does it come from the sin either of the parent or the affected? We know that in the case of a heroine or crack addict mom, her sins can cause deformity and severe often fatal consequence. A father also with his sexually transmitted diseases etc... So it is possible. If we are talking about all sin in general then why are not all kids born of sinners diseased and sickly? And if not all born to sinning parents then why any at all? We could also see the possibility of an adult of consenting age doing something dietary or promiscuous or risky etc.. that would result in their calamity. Again if sin is the cause why not all sinners and if not all then why any? In this particular case we are talking about a man blind from birth. Like so many similar cases it defies explanation unless we are to take into account the original curse and the removal of the tree of life. This explanation would make such disease and deformity and impairments much more indiscriminate on God's part. Man falls, death is sentenced and enforced, tree of life removed, toil and pain added, genetic disturbance and entropy, sub mutation and viral/bacterial balances altered, sickness and disease obvious and increasing. Add to this the theory that Israel itself is under double measure of God's blessing/curse given their possession of the sacred articles and covenants with God. We see more blindness and deafness and leprosy and demonic possession particularly at this biblical time of reprobacy than perhaps ever before/since. That Jesus would say that this particular man's blindness is not because of any one person's sin does not mean to say that sin, especially original sin and the sin of Israel mishandling of the sacred are not involved. Neither does it mean that the man's condition was forced upon him just so that God could show that Jesus can heal him. The works of God being manifested could rather go to show the indiscriminate nature of the curse, the compounding of the curse by Israel's indolence and irresponsibility, God's undeserved mercy pointing from all directions to His Anointed One, this same Jesus Christ. Now, we must ask in the other cases when Jesus concluded a healing with the words "thy sins are forgiven" how many of these times was it said in addition/conclusion to the healing and how many times was it necessary in order to provide the healing? The faith of our Lord is that the works of God will be made manifest and that He is the one that must work these works. What kind of works would these be if He was the one that necessitated them just to show Himself capable? Sin undoubtedly made for the necessity. His manifestation is the mercy presented to atone for it.
November21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:9:13-34 A MARVELOUS THING - Since the world began, that is a long time. A man born blind is made to see. What difference would it make where the healer was from? He would still require serious consideration. How could just any person perform such a thing? Let alone a sinner? It is often asked why Jesus used the mud and the wash. It is commonly held that it was used to help build the man's faith. The man did not see what Jesus was about to do. The man at least would have known by touch that something had been done and feel it all the way down to the bath. Others point to the possible medicinal purposes of the mud (but to heal prenatal blindness?). What if the mud was to mark the man that a miracle had been performed again by Jesus on the Sabbath? What if it was a message to the Pharisees and had little to do with the event itself? The inquisition asked more than once "how was this again? Mud?". It was perplexing to them. Mud sticks to things. In mud things get stuck. If one is trying to get a perplexing puzzle stuck into a group of antagonist's brains why not stick it there with mud? The theory is interesting. As much as these men wanted to control the proceedings and rule out the miracle all together, their perplexity kept the inquiry in play, broadcasting to others that they were not all together sure what had taken place. It aggravated a division already occurring within their group and made to surface a policy they wanted to enforce that commoners insisting Jesus to be Christ would be excommunicated from the assembly. The mud is now on their face. How Jesus had healed has as little to do with the consideration of sin as when He did it or where He was from. The fact is that it hadn't been done to anyone's recollection ever before, that was the most urgent point. Some there came close to the matter, but apparently they lack the political strength and determination of the others. The faith of our Lord is in bringing the darkness to light, to make men to see the spiritual struggle happening daily all around them and the various intentions/motives being played out. Sometimes something as simple as mud can be used to remind one man who cannot see that his eyes are soon to open and at the same time reveal to a great many that certain so called seers are actually driven to blindness. That makes it an even more marvelous thing!
November25 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:11:1-16 BECAUSE HE SEETH THE LIGHT - The thing that is sure to catch the eye is the intensity of the miracle and the set up to it. There is something stated here that could slip by if not pointed out. The concern of the disciples is obvious and sincere. Without being there I believe it is hard/impossible for us to grasp just how dangerous getting to (and back from alive) this miracle will be. You and I would see the danger and we'd be able to come up with several self justifications dressed up in alternate but safer forms of ministry, a letter, an envoy, a bouquet, a tract, an evening of group prayer. If we were a messiah we could even issue the command to rise from far away. Jesus does not shy away from this. How does He know from all His options which course of action is the correct one? How does He favor the one when everyone else is convinced otherwise? How does He keep Himself from stumbling? Jesus inserts a quick illustration walking in the light of day; there being twelve hours. Though I don't claim to understand it with any certainty, at the same time I know that this insertion was not frivolous or placating. I believe that the answer He meant for us is in His answer here. So often we are faced with several immediate options only one of which we can actually take. We apply our wisdom to the discernment of which one to choose. As we process those decisions, by what light are we analyzing them by? Our Lord's decision is lit by the glory of the Father seeking to glorify the Son. Has that ever since changed? Lazarus's body was dead and decaying, his soul had not yet transitioned (nor would it this time) it was sleeping and unaware awaiting the Son to receive the Father's glory. Lazarus's condition is not a common condition of death for others, it is like being laid out on the ledge spiritually presented by the Father for the Savior to come and show Himself by. Who else's death can we say this of?. Jesus sees this presentation and knows that He must move that direction no matter what the supposed cost might be. IS this the type of presentation we should be looking for as well? If He is sent here to do the Father's work, here is where the Father's work is sending Him. We too must become more and more aware of the pathways appearing in front of us. We were created unto good works, works that He will direct us to should we be alert and not fear the assumed consequence. The faith of our Lord is that there is twelve hours in this symbolic spiritual day and that the work does not end until the lights are completely out. If the light shows another task to be done then what is to stop Him, HE SEETH THE LIGHT.
December4 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:13:18-30 TO WHOM I GIVE SOP - Why didn't Jesus out Judas right then and there? Let's put ourselves in the mind of Judas for a moment. Whatever it was that made him to inquire with the Sanhedrin in the first place he has probably carried in his heart long before that; one doesn't just jump to such a decision. Now he is carrying all of that plus the anxiety of it all now coming together into this supper attempting to disguise it. The disciples there with him are looking at one another sizing each other up. Peter the courageous spokesman is even timid about asking who Jesus means. Jesus though is leaving it hang out there over the room. Judas and He both know who He is talking about, yet it is left for everyone to ponder and search out for themselves. Judas has to be thinking "Master just tell them". Orelse maybe Jesus is thinking "Judas just tell them". The truth is Jesus is man enough (has better purposes) to not out Judas to the others and Judas is coward (disturbed) enough not to confess either to Jesus or the others. How odd it must have been to dip the morsel in the Lord's bowl and still not be noticed by the rest of the attendees. It is nearly impossible to get into the mind set of Judas. The faith of our Lord however sees this as a moment that they/we will all look back on with breathless amazement/confusion. As this event continues to hang over the crowd of believers today, what message exactly does the Lord's faith wish us to look back on? How easy it is to miss what is actually going on in any moment let alone the few epic ticks. One first sees Judas go out the door and thinks nothing of it (or finds another explanation for it). Next thing Judas is approaching with a platoon of temple guards. Suddenly one looks back and remembers that Judas did take up the sop. Days later one recalls Jesus never outed Judas, but then again He did; no one else was close enough to the moment though to know any different. If not close enough to this moment, what other moments are we too distant in?
December13 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:17:1-5 GLORIFY - Some important facts about Jesus. One, He had a glory with the Father before coming to the flesh. Two, He has glorified the Father here on earth. Three, now that the work is finished He expects that the Father will return Him to His glory. Why is this all important? Because it glorifies the Father. There are other possible directions that this glorification could have come. The Father could have glorified HIMSELF. Deserved no doubt, but not the best way considering no one on earth knows HIM or even cares. The Father could have waited for man to glorify HIM. Deserved, but again not likely and quite corrupted, hollow and imaginary. The Father could have done great big miraculous things to draw the praise of man in, well HE had done that for millennium and couldn't keep man's belief or attention for more than a few ticks (telling us not so much about HIS glory, but our deprived nature). Jesus seeking His rightful glory could have gone about this differently as well. The whole thing is that both relied on each other to glorify the other; I glorify you and you glorify me, which is the way all things are meant to be. How did Jesus glorify the Father? He made the Father known, HIS truth, HIS righteousness, HIS will, HIS plan, HIS judgment, HIS mercy and a tangible/visible portion of HIS supreme power. He glorified HIM by not speaking or doing of His own, but obeying as He saw and heard; obeying even to the cross. How does the Father glorify the Jesus? The Resurrection and Ascension and Pentecost; no other messianic figure can lay claim to. The Holy Spirit which testifies of Him in similar obedient confirmation and subjection. The millions (if not billions) of believers that the Father has now drawn (made the Son known to). The returning of Jesus to the Glory He once had plus the addition of giving Him power over all flesh and His enemies at His footstool. We as believers can attest to Jesus selflessly glorifying the Father, the Father glorifying Jesus the Son; their glory is not just an empty theological word, we see it now with profound substance. The portion He has received from the Father now He is willing to divide with His faithful strong. We too have been called to glory and virtue and we see in Jesus and the Holy Spirit the perfect example of how glory is to be done. The faith of our Lord is that glory does not come from oneself, even when it is deserved as in THEIR case. Glorification is not hollow praise from the lips, it is full to over flowing with the commitment and diligence of continuing the obedient path; only then are the words not hollow or self serving. Jesus is the example of one glorifying another. His commandment? To love one another as He has loved us! Glorify HIM/Him by faithfully keeping this commandment with the meaning intended.
December18 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:18:15-18 PALACE OF THE HIGH PRIEST - When Jesus foresaw Peter denying Him three times what was it that He saw? How much of it did He see? How much did He plan even? For instance, did He know that John was known by the high priest and would be there or did He make him known? The Greek word doesn't show the level of familiarity. It becomes important because it is John that lets Peter into the servants area. Did John and Peter follow with Jesus in the procession or in the near distance tailing behind? Did they tail together? That becomes important to know how John knew Peter was near by to look for him; or to know that it was safe to bring him in. I guess my question is would Peter have denied Jesus regardless of where he was and then space and situation becomes unimportant? Did Jesus simply see three denials or see the situations developing outside of what He Himself was experiencing that lead to Peter's denials; even perhaps having a hand at making the situation(s) develop? We may never know from the text available to us. The theology that trails each possible explanation however does become quite interesting and complex. Why doesn't the Spirit lead the writer firmly as to these details? The Spirit records what is most important, Jesus is taken, two disciples follow. Little details are thrown in to make us wonder and ponder the possibilities. The possibilities are as enormous as God's sovereignty and as narrow as a man falsely accused and unlawfully treated. In our lives we can often sense the same circumstantial complexity and should center our faith on Him regardless. Would it be wrong for a woman of her own volition to come up and ask us a probing question? Would it be wrong for the Spirit to set that question in her heart to have her probe us? Would it be wrong of the Spirit to have a trusted associate of ours to come down and let us into a position where we could be probed? Would it be wrong for these things to occur most innocently and the test be us testing ourselves? The answer regardless is to have faith centered on Jesus. Whether we pass or fail the test, no matter how the test came about, the answer is to have faith centered on Jesus. It may be that this is the sole purpose of the test to begin with. The faith of our Lord is in God the Father and the Holy Spirit. How much He sees regarding us is an interesting consideration as the apparent depth alone is enormous. How much more He sees of the Father is a solid fact that He is willing to die for.
December24 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:19:28-37 HE THAT SAW IT BARE RECORD - Jesus is verifiably dead. If there were any suspicion they would have broken His legs. Why? So that He wouldn't have been able to lift Himself up to breath. If any other doubt remains it should be quenched by the intrusion of a spear through His intercostals into His heart. Whatever life force that could have remained came flooding out to the ground below as well as any other bodily fluids. It is important to us to know the finality of this moment. There is not anything anyone on the scene could have done to take this all back; no sudden pardon from Caesar or maybe if we just prayed hard enough. It is out of mortal hands. We have the actions of all involved and the testimony of John as eye witness. We have any of a number of people that could have said no John you've got it all wrong. Tradition has it that John was boiled in oil later in an attempt to get a confession out of him. Is there anything else that you would like to try to rationalize to make this event something different? Can you look back on this through the scriptures and find anything that was left out? Well there is the mention of some eternal kingdom and rule. When does that come into play? When there is a kingdom of like minded followers for Him to rule over. Why isn't there a kingdom of like minded followers yet? Because the Father hasn't glorified Him quite yet. Look through the scriptures. Tell me what other prophecy is about to be fulfilled? How can it be fulfilled, He is dead? He is dead isn't He? How do the dead come back to life? Why would they? What would it prove if they did? Any man could believe himself sent by God. Any man could believe himself to be a sacrifice for the obvious sins of mankind and even carry it through. No man could himself fulfill an impossible string of prophecies most outside of His control up to and including His death and resurrection except it be performed by someone other than he with the power to do it. When Jesus said that this other mysterious person cannot be known except by Him and who He reveals HIM to, how is it that He intended to reveal it? The faith of our Lord is that the very thing we are forced by His death and resurrection to consider is the very revelation of our Heavenly Father. This is HIS righteousness, HIS mercy, HIS eternal plan; this is HIS DOING. Why then would HE put in the hands of a few men's to testify of it? HE didn't. HE also put it in yours to bare record of!
December28 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:20:19-23 SO I SEND YOU - There will be a discernible difference between the disciples up to now and after receiving the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit job to set us apart from all of the many human deficiencies that spiritually beset us. And the Spirit comes upon their belief of the death and resurrection of the Son of God sent to accomplish the Father's will and provide for the complete remission of sins. One of the most substantial differences will be in their forgiveness towards others. By the same measure God judges us (our belief in Jesus the Lord/Christ) we judge others. By the same measure God forgives us our sins (completely in Jesus Christ) we forgive others who have sinned against us. I cannot rightly forgive one who sins against another in the others place, but I can show both parties the necessity and way to come to that ends in Christ. Neither can I rightly stand in for God other than to avail the terms and counsel on behalf of such agreement, but I can/must for that which is done against me. Should I not forgive any that has sinned against me, I will find that neither has the Father in heaven for I have failed to understand and except the forgiveness the Father has offered me in Jesus; my sin of un-forgiveness will be retained. Should I not help others to come to this level of forgiveness between themselves, I have acted with a similar un-forgiveness by not understanding and accepting the forgiveness of the Father as well; even by such inaction.The Spirit is now here to guide us, to comfort us, and yes if necessary convict us of the sin that we still hold against our Father's judgment/mercy. If forgiveness of this type was the sole accomplishment of the Spirit in us it would be substantial and revolutionary. Can you imagine all the sins just among all of us being remitted? Such forgiveness does not come easily or by our resources however, that is where our problem yet remains. Only by the Holy Spirit which comes by belief in the full work of Jesus Christ, breathed into us as it were by Christ Himself does this impossibility become possible.The faith of our Lord past has now earned the right of our most serious consideration.These things now have been proven and righteously extended to us. We must now take hold of His faith and move it forward into our lives and make it known into the lives of all others.It is by no mistake that along with the gift of His Spirit that the first thing He mentions is the remittance and or retention of sins by us of others.
December29 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:20:24-31 BECAUSE THOU HAST SEEN - What would of happened with Thomas had Jesus not returned for Him? Thomas would have to come into his belief just like any other of us; by the testimony of others. The thing is that there are plenty of Thomas's out there that have their mind fixed that there is nothing in these testimonies to believe, that it is something that they will have to see and feel for themselves. Is Jesus obligated to return for them as well? The thing is that that don't really need to see and feel in so many other areas of their lives, why is it so important to them in this particular case? They will take another's word when it comes to politics. They will take another's word when it comes to economics, investments, history, future prediction, court testimony, science, global warming, etc... They will also swallow rumor and innuendo and false premise and distortion and murmuring and intimidation and unjust balance. Why is it not their intellectual creed in these cases? The point is that we try intellectually to be these things and to a certain respect we are, but the reality is that it is close to impossible to be this in the broadest respect. Truth is that we are inescapably made to rely upon the testimonies and opinions of others. Yes it is difficult and error prone and requires discernment; even trust. Yes others have their personal motives and view points and see the same event with dissimilar details. But for men like Thomas (well meaning though they think that they are) to say to the others "no, I won't allow your word even into my preliminary consideration" or "you all are liars" or "this is something so much different than what Jesus told us that would happen; I think you are all reaching" such is not much more than self inflating pride. So you won't believe until you see for yourself. Well where were you Thomas when the rest of us saw Him? How many times do you think Thomas that He has to come back when you just happen to show up? Is Jesus really obligated to meet you on your terms and with your objections? In a sense it is important for the over all record that there was dissent observed in the group, at least for us that long after would follow, but in Thomas's case it is merely a stroke of God's grace that he was given another opportunity to satisfy his hypocritical and prideful demands. What if Jesus had not come to any disciple? What if He had appeared to the common public or to Pilate and Ananias instead? Would that have changed the fact of our Lord's resurrection? The faith of our Lord is in the testimony of others testifying to the veracity of His word. He didn't even attempt to write it down Himself. He may be the only major world messianic figure that went about it this way. Such a defense would be more than proper in a court of law. Why would it not in the court of individual belief?
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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