Mark 16:9-19

The whole of salvation depends upon knowing that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, He rose and physically appeared to many. He was all man AND all God. We can rest assured that He who raised Him from the grave will also raise those who trust in Him and in the salvation given to man through Father, Son and Holy Spirit. BELIEVE!

Although the women had been commissioned to tell of Jesus’ resurrection, none had actually seen Jesus until He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Jesus’ resurrection was evidently not expected by anyone in spite of His repeated predictions. After Judas’ demise, the disciples were known for a while as the eleven. Jesus upbraided these disciples for not believing the accounts of eyewitnesses, but He pronounced a blessing on “those who have not seen and yet have believed”. 

Those who believe in Christ will be saved.

Mark 16:9-19

⁹ Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. ¹¹ And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. 

¹² After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. ¹³ And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. 

¹⁴ Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. ¹⁵ And He said to them,  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 

Job 15:34-35

The powers of this world  like stirring up the masses without thought to truth or the peaceful wisdom of God. It is all about control! I long for the day that truth reigns and we are set free!  We need to rise above the fray. 

Remember the innocence of Job.....not all things are as they appear to be! 

In mentioning the fire that will consume the tents of the wicked, Eliphaz employs the same two words that describe the fire of God that devoured Job’s sheep and servants.

Job 15:34-35

³⁴ For the company of hypocrites will be barren, 

And fire will consume the tents of bribery. 

³⁵ They conceive trouble and bring forth futility; 

Their womb prepares deceit.” 

Acts 13:36-41

We will all be given the chance to accept or reject Jesus Christ and the salvation that only He can give........enter into God’s grace!

Justification is a legal term meaning “declared innocent” It is a legal declaration that a person is acquitted and absolved. It is by justification that a person is righteous and acceptable to God. The death of Christ was the payment of our sin debt, so that we might be forgiven.

Acts 13:36-41

³⁶ “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: 

⁴¹ ‘Behold, you despisers, 

Marvel and perish! 

For I work a work in your days, 

A work which you will by no means believe, 

Though one were to declare it to you.’ ” 

Daniel 7:13-14

Come Lord Jesus come....then and only then will the world rejoice and peace reign!

Son of Man is Semitic for “human being.” Daniel saw One like the “Son of Man,” indicating that He is not a man in the strict sense, but rather the perfect representation of humanity. Jewish and Christian expositors have identified this individual as the Messiah. Jesus Himself used this name to emphasize His humanity as the incarnate Son of God, who will reign over all things as the regent of Almighty God. His dominion is … everlasting.

Daniel 7:13-14

¹³ “I was watching in the night visions, 

And behold, One like the Son of Man, 

Coming with the clouds of heaven! 

He came to the Ancient of Days, 

And they brought Him near before Him. 

¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, 

That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. 

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, 

Which shall not pass away, 

And His kingdom the one 

Which shall not be destroyed. 

John 8:12-18

Christ within the hope of glory! The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sealed by Him and belong to God. It matters not that others know.... it matters that He does.

As the sun is the physical light of the world, so Jesus is the spiritual light of the world. The religious leaders formed conclusions based on human standards and an imperfect, external, and superficial examination. Jesus did not judge according to human standards or outward appearances. 

John 8:12-18

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” 

¹³ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.” 

¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them,  “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶ And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷ It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” 

Colossians 3:17

Everything that we do should reflect on our love and gratitude for the salvation that God provided in Jesus Christ. Without Him we are incapable of loving others as much as we love ourselves. Without Him we are incapable of loving Him above anyone or anything in our lives. We need to live with an attitude of gratitude for the agape love God has for all of His creation.

In this verse, Paul sums up how Christians should live. We should commit everything we do or say to Jesus and continually thank God for all His good gifts.

Colossians 3:17

¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

Luke 11:49-52

The self righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and their desperate need to keep control of the masses caused them to stifle or kill any truth that would create an even spiritual playing field for all people. They did not want to accept the truth that God sent to them and they definitely did not want others set free by it.

Jesus charged the lawyers with doing the opposite of what they claimed their calling to be. Rather than bringing people nearer to God, they had removed the possibility of their entering into that knowledge, and had prevented others from understanding as well.

Luke 11:49-52

⁴⁹ Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. 

⁵² “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” 

Acts 22:9-11

For every Christian there is a job to be done if we only listen and then act.  Everyone may not understand your calling but it is enough that God does.

Paul listened!

The men who had accompanied Paul heard the sound but could not understand the words that were being spoken to Paul.

Acts 22:9-11

⁹ “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. ¹⁰ So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me,  ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ 

Acts 22:6-10

Whatever you do to the least of His children you do to Him. Whatever you do for the least of His children you do for Him. His followers were considered heretics to the Church. They were all the little people with no power of their own but they were  willing to die for His truth. 

Be very careful whom you choose to dismiss as insignificant........He may strongly disagree! 

Paul shared his personal testimony. God has given to each of us a testimony of how He has changed our lives. We must share that testimony to everyone who will listen.

Acts 22:6-10

⁶ “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me,  ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 

Acts 26:6-8

Jesus Christ came to earth to end deaths emotional hold on us......He came back to our dimension after His death to prove to us once and for all that death had lost its sting. We will be raised from the dead and have everlasting life with God through Him.  Just believe!

Paul was not being judged because he had done something wrong. He had not turned against his own Jewish heritage. Instead he fervently believed in the promises God had made to the nation of Israel: the promise of a coming Messiah and the reestablishment of the kingdom of God. Paul did not reject the hope of salvation for Israel. Instead he saw that hope fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The fact that Jesus had been raised from the dead confirmed to Paul that all believers would be raised from the dead to enjoy the blessings of the promised kingdom of God.

Acts 26:6-8

⁶ And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. ⁷ To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. ⁸ Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? 

John 3:13-17

January 17th, 2012

When we lift up Jesus Christ, and not ourselves and our beliefs, allowing the Holy Spirit to move then people can see His goodness and His mercy and believe in Him, that they might see and understand and be saved. 

In order to refuse a gift you must be aware that a gift is being offered, and everyone will have the opportunity to accept...when the Spirit knocks let Him in! This gift fixes everything!

The most precious gift of the Triune Godhead, the Holy Lamb of God heaven and earth are filled with His glory.....may the Spirit open our eyes to behold Him!

New birth is by the Son, by the Cross, and by faith. When Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, those who looked at it lived. So it is with the Son of Man. When a person trusts Christ, he or she is born again and receives eternal and spiritual life, God’s kind of life.

God’s love is not restricted to any one nation or to any spiritual elite. World here may also include all of creation. At His first coming, Jesus came so that the world through Him might be saved. When Jesus comes again, He will come in judgment upon those who refused His offer of salvation.

John 3:13-17

¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 

1 Corinthians 14:26-33

I have been under the proverbial weather since Tuesday of last week with a cold that has held onto my hubby since Christmas Day........I am determined that it will let me go... today!

Strange that in most of our Churches today no one speaks in tongues or gives prophesy.....thoughts to ponder. Are we missing out on the very words that God wants to speak to His Body today?  How sad in such troubling times that we stifle the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

If each person brings to the meeting the special ability that God has given him or her, and if everything is done for edification, the church as a whole will benefit. As beneficial as prophesying is, Paul sought to limit the activity. Prophets were not to monopolize the limited amount of time the church members were together. Let the others judge indicates that no one, not even a person exercising a spiritual gift, is exempt from accountability to the church.

Revealed indicates that prophesying as described here is different from what we call preaching or reading from Scripture. The prophesying that Paul referred to is similar to OT prophecy in which God gives a revelation to one of His servants who, in turn, gives that revelation to God’s people. 

1 Corinthians 14:26-33

²⁶ How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. ³⁰ But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. ³² And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. ³³ For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 

1 Corinthians 2:9-15

May we continually be filled with the glory of God through the precious blood of Jesus Christ and the knowledge given to us by the Holy Spirit.....the mind, body and heart of God.

Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the truths of God. We could never have discovered the mysteries of God or the benefits of Christ’s death by ourselves. But we can know them by experience because they have been freely given to us by God.

1 Corinthians 2:9-15

⁹ But as it is written: 

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, 

Nor have entered into the heart of man 

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 

¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 

¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶ For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 

Ezeiel 24:9-13

Is there no hope for the world? Do we ever learn from the mistakes of the past or are we doomed to repeat them? What does God require of us? He requires us to love Him above all others and to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.....so easy to say and so hard it seems for us to carry it out in deeds as well as words. What we do to the least of our brothers we do to Him.....

God does not play favorites; His judgment would fall equally on all inhabitants of the city, for they all had sinned. The people failed to deal with the sin, so God declares that it would remain exposed to His judgment.

Ezekiel 24 9-13

⁹ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: 

“Woe to the bloody city! 

I too will make the pyre great. 

¹⁰ Heap on the wood, 

Kindle the fire; 

Cook the meat well, 

Mix in the spices, 

And let the cuts be burned up. 

¹¹ “Then set the pot empty on the coals, 

That it may become hot and its bronze may burn, 

That its filthiness may be melted in it, 

That its scum may be consumed. 

¹² She has grown weary with lies, 

And her great scum has not gone from her. 

Let her scum be in the fire! 

¹³ In your filthiness is lewdness. 

Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, 

You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, 

Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you. 

Joel 1:2-5

Has earth ever experienced as many natural disasters as it has in this decade? Every nation has been affected by the devastation wrought by them. We have to wonder what does all this mean? Is it due to man’s failure to take care of what God created and turned over to him to tend OR should we be accessing the times and looking up knowing the time of the end is nearing? Regardless, wisdom would tell us there is an end and God controls eternity and He want no one to perish.....go tell it on the mountains before the new wine of the Holy Spirit and the fruit that only He can produce in man is taken away......  Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation! 

The calamity of recent days was unprecedented in the memory of the people. Many interpreters have viewed this locust swarm as foreign armies that attacked Judah in successive waves—Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Yet literal locust plagues were one of the judgments promised if the people disobeyed God and broke their covenant with Him. Further, Joel’s description of the damage done by the locusts compares with eyewitness reports. The impression given is one of overwhelming devastation.

Joel 1:2-5

The Land Laid Waste

² Hear this, you elders, 

And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! 

Has anything like this happened in your days, 

Or even in the days of your fathers? 

³ Tell your children about it, 

Let your children tell their children, 

And their children another generation. 

⁴ What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; 

What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; 

And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. 

⁵ Awake, you drunkards, and weep; 

And wail, all you drinkers of wine, 

Because of the new wine, 

For it has been cut off from your mouth. 

Jeremiah 3:22

Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding.

Ecclesiastes 12:6-7

Tomorrow is never guaranteed and each day is a gift given to us to use wisely. Each of us will return to the Creator and our eternal life is ultimately in His hands.... seek to know Him now!

This verse describes the destruction of four significant objects—a demonstration of the finality of this life. 

Ecclesiastes 12:6-7

⁶ Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, 

Or the golden bowl is broken, 

Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, 

Or the wheel broken at the well. 

⁷ Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, 

And the spirit will return to God who gave it. 

Daniel 12:9-11

There will come an end to life as we know it. I fear for those who do not know of our Savior or who have rejected Him. Send workers into your fields Lord so that Your message of hope and Your desire that no one perish can reach as many people as possible.

Many will be purified, made white, and refined. Suffering will refine the righteous, but the wicked will continue in their evil.

Daniel 12:9-11

⁹ And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. ¹⁰ Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

Ezeiel 22:6-12

Sin clouds our minds and causes misconceived notions of grandeur and worldliness. It gives us the idea that it is acceptable to mistreat others in the name of progress and in the pursuit of money and happiness...our own.

Jerusalem’s princes had shed the blood of innocent people. These evil leaders had been: (1) taking advantage of parents and the weak (2) rejecting God and His covenant, leading to ungodliness and inhumanity (3) murdering the innocent by slandering them (4) preferring idolatrous religion and its immoral rituals (5) engaging in sexual immorality with neighbors, family, and relatives and (6) loving money and using it to get ahead of fellow citizens. 

Ezekiel 22:6-12

⁶ “Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. ⁷ In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. ⁸ You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹ In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. ¹⁰ In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity. ¹¹ One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. ¹² In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.