Knowing Jesus

 Who, being the Effulgence of His glory and Emblem of His assumption, besides carrying on all by His powerful declaration, making a cleansing of sin, is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heights.

Hebrews 1: 3, Concordant New Testament 

The question was raised the other day of if we truly know the man Jesus.  Certainly we know OF Him, but do we truly know Him as He is?  For many, Christ Jesus remains simply a figure, an image which they perceive as Jesus.  Many Christian bibles and publications are filled with images of the best image of Jesus we can conjure up.  Even the streaming Christian show The Chosen, which I feel is one of the best depictions of the life of Jesus in His ministry, holds true to the traditional physical version of Jesus.  This is the description of Christ which has been pushed by the church for centuries.  A bearded man leading His disciples across the land.  For much of the world, this is the Jesus they have come to know.  My friend reminded me the other day that the worlds view of Jesus is shrouded, possibly in what we have been taught about Him {John 14:7}.  I feel that it is important to point out here that it is one thing to know about Jesus, and yet another thing to truly know Him.  Unfortunately, much of what the world knows of Jesus fits in the latter category.  This is the Jesus I grew up knowing.  The Jesus of the bible.  The Jesus someone else taught me.  Needless to say, this version of Jesus is very impersonal.  We rarely bring a personal connection to One we only know of.  It's akin to knowing someone as an acquaintance and knowing them as a friend.  The Jesus I have come to know is my friend.  The Jesus I grew up hearing of was simply an acquaintance, someone I had heard stories of yet never truly had come to know.  This is the Jesus much of the world knows today.  We have become satisfied knowing of Him and what He looks like.  This ultimately leads us to, as I wrote in my previous post, a counterfeit version of Jesus.  

If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.  And henceforth you know Him and have seen Him. 

John 14: 7, Concordant New Testament 

In my last post, I wrote of the counterfeit AI Jesus which people can log in to a computer and ask Jesus anything they desire.  How cool is that?  Well, I have never used this AI Jesus and I talk to Jesus each and every day.  How is that?  Because I have come to know that it is Jesus who resides in me.  This is the indwelling Christ which the apostle Paul speaks to in Galatians {Galatians 2:20}.  This Jesus in me is not simply an acquaintance, but One I know personally.  I am not too concerned with His physical appearance, but with what He means to my life.  I know of His works which the scriptures have documented, but I also know the man Jesus.  As it is, the man Jesus is my own identity.  Jesus is who I am.  Taking Paul's passage in Galatians literally, we can come to this conclusion.  I am Christ who dwells in me.  He shows Himself through me.  I hesitate to even use the word "me" because this may denote that I continue to live as a individual, which is not the case.  That man has died, as Paul pointed out {Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:8}.  What remains is who I am now.  What remains is Jesus.  This is the Jesus I know. 

"I and the Father, We are one"

John 10: 30, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

A Counterfeit Jesus

 Who, being the effulgence of His glory and emblem of His assumption, besides carrying on all by His powerful declaration, making a cleansing of sins, is seated at the right hand of the majesty in the heights; becoming so much better than the messengers as He enjoys the allotment of a more excellent name than they. 

Hebrews 1: 3-4, Concordant New Testament 

For many believers, I don't need to serve as a reminder of who Jesus is.  Most of us know His attributes and His nature already.  Well, we know what we've been told by the church.  But imagine what it would be like to actually talk to Jesus.  What would you ask Him?  What struggles would you privately reveal to  Him?  Imagine having your own personal Jesus to talk with.  Well, now through artificial intelligence technology (AI), we can speak to Jesus any time we want.  That is, a AI version of Jesus.  The chatbot version of Jesus, now streaming on the Twitch game site allows users to ask AI Jesus just about any question they desire.  The interactive Jesus gives the user the opportunity to connect with their Lord and savior, or does it?  Sadly, this Jesus knockoff does nothing more than spit out what the programmers want you to hear.  Yes, you can ask it a question, but it is not Jesus who is answering.  This is some tech geeks assumption of what Jesus would say.  I'd rather go straight to the source for my answers.  When I desire to talk with Christ Jesus, I get the real deal.  I don't need no fancy AI program to tell me what it wants me to hear.  I can speak directly to the man who gave His life for me { 2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Needless to say, Jesus has always been a intimate part of my life even before AI technology came along.  The apostle Paul didn't need AI Jesus when he spoke to knowing Christ Jesus in him {Galatians 2:20}.  Paul was not speaking to AI Jesus that day on the road to Damascus {Acts 26:14-15}.  He knew that he didn't need to log on or sign up to some website in order to speak to Jesus.  For Paul, speaking to Jesus was as easy as speaking with any other person.  The truth of Jesus is that He is as real as you and me.  So, why would someone choose a counterfeit Jesus over the original?  

Having, then, a great Chief Priest, who passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, we may be holding to the avowal.  For we have not a Chief Priest not able to sympathize with our infirmities, but One Who has been tried in all respects like us, apart from sin.  We may be coming, then, with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may be obtaining mercy and finding grace for opportune help. 

Hebrews 4: 14-16, Concordant New Testament 

The Jesus which the world knows is undeniable, even to the best tech geeks.  AI technology cannot replace the birth, ministry and death of Jesus.  His life and works are forever a part of us.  In fact, His DNA has always been a part of us as well.  We're told that we are created in the Fathers image {Genesis 1:27}.  As a result, He breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  This is who we are.  We are not programmed but lovingly created.  Jesus also predates any AI technology.  It is Jesus who was with God from the beginning {John 1: 1-5}.  The best that I can see is that this new AI Jesus is a convenience created for those in a microwave speed world.  We want to simply click on a website and speak to Jesus.  How simple is that?  In reality, speaking to Jesus within us isn't rocket science at all.  We know and recognize His voice in our hearts because He is a part of us {John 10:27}.  The desire of the Father is that we be one with He and His Son {John 17:21}.  The Lords intention was never to present to us a counterfeit of the original.  We are not to be "Like" Jesus, but to be Christ who is in us.  Technology will never evolve to the point where it can emulate who Jesus truly is.  Not a counterfeit, but the Way, the Truth and the Life.  

In the beginning was the word, and the word was towards God, and God was the word.  This was in the beginning toward God.  All came into being through it, and apart from it not even one thing came into being which has come into being.  In it was life, and the life was the light of men.  

John 1: 1-4, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Race To Get To Heaven

 

And as they were looking intently intently into heaven at His going, Lo! two men stood beside them in white attire, who say also, "Men! Galileans! Why do you stand, looking into heaven?  This Jesus who is being taken up from you into heaven shall come thus, in the manner in which you gaze at Him going into heaven."

Acts 1: 10-11, Concordant New Testament 

Anyone who has been witness to the current events of this world may have wished at one time or another for its coming.  The place where our Lords glory reigns.  Where justice and peace for all of Gods children can be found.  For thousands of years, men have dreamed of their ultimate destination when this life is over.  The mainstream church has all too often used our time in heaven as a sort of reward for the toil and sacrifice we endure here in this world.  If we're good enough.  If we meet the Lords standard, then we too will enjoy a heavenly reward.  The truth is, our heavenly destination was intended to be more of a homecoming than a get out of jail free card.  The temporary bodies we inhabit are not our one true home.  Our home, our destination, is in the presence of the Lord.  Why would God not desire His children to return to Him?  Why would a loving God not desire to share His home with the children He loves so much?  This is the truth of our future in heaven, and it fly's right in the face of all we've been taught.  Growing up, I was told that only the good will be rewarded with eternity in heaven.  This was our incentive to live as close to a Godly life as possible.  The better we did, the better our chances of reaching heaven...and God.  The trouble with that way of thinking is that the man made church made the rules of how well one must do in order to succeed in reaching heaven.  The church decided if you had been good enough to deserve your final home.  How many believers have perished not knowing the true love and acceptance of God?  How many have struggled and toiled chasing the righteousness set forth by man?  This was never the Lords intent.  God has never desired that heaven be a contest.  What He DID desire is that we would be one with He and His Son {John 17:21}.  Jesus has prepared for us a place in heaven {John 14:2}.  Consider the thief crucified on the cross next to Jesus.  He never toiled in his quest to be righteous.  What he DID do is recognize that only through Jesus would he enter his final home {Luke 23:43}.  If we seek our eternal home in heaven, then Jesus is where our search should begin {John 14:6}.  

For we are aware that, if our terrestrial tabernacle house should be demolished, we have a building of God, a house made not by hands, eonian, in the heavens. 

2 Corinthians 5: 1, Concordant New Testament 

The apostle Paul speaks to our final home in his letter to the church in Corinth.  Paul speaks of a building of God, a house not made by human hands {2 Corinthians 5:1}.  Not surprisingly, Paul did not speak to the effort and toil it would take to achieve our final home.  What he did was speak of our expected destination.  I wonder what the church spin would be on the words of Paul here.  We have a building made by God...if we are good enough.  We have a building made by God...if we behave.  Does this sound like a heaven in which a loving God desires for His children?  To me this sounds more like a reality show competition than a homecoming.  Millions of contestants with very few winners.  If it seems as if the deck is stacked against us, you're right.  At least from mans point of view.  By mans standards, very few will achieve the righteousness needed to enter into heaven.  By Gods standards, all are welcome.  Yet speak this truth to well meaning Christians and you will get a shocked response.  What?  God desires ALL to enter into heaven?  But what about all those sinners?  Yes, what about them?  Again, scripture tells us our Lords desire {John 3:16-17}.  Many a Christian knows John 3:16 by heart, but selectively forget the next verse in the passage.  That the world may be saved through Jesus.  The world...everyone.  I recently watched the film Come Sunday, which depicts the career of pastor Carlton Pearson.  Pastor Pearson was heavily criticized by the church for speaking that there was no hell.  Indeed, this fly's in the face of all the church teaches.  Take away the threat of hell and all you're left with is a loving Father who desires a homecoming for His children.  THAT, is the true desire of the Father.  

For God does not dispatch His Son into the world that He should be judging the world, but that the world may be saved through Him. 

John 3: 17, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

What About Me?

 Well, there's a little boy waiting

At the counter of the corner shop

He's been waiting down there, waiting half the day

They never see him from the top

He gets pushed around, knocked to the ground

He gets to his feet and he says...what about me? 

What about me, Moving Pictures 

I've been seeing a lot of me lately.  Not me personally, but so many others wondering, what about me?  You can see it in almost every corner of society, people looking for the best deal, program or situation...for me.  Live your best life.  Live for the day.  Pay yourself first.  The "me" theme is all too common in the world we live in.  Even in Christian circles, we're taught to believe that the me trend continues in our life with the Lord.  I've heard way too many preachers speak to our lives "with" the Lord.  Like we are somehow separated in some way from the God who created us {Genesis 1:27}.  So, what about me?  Am I indeed separate from God?  Is it the Lords desire that I remain as myself forever?  In His prayer in the garden, Jesus spoke to something different.  In the book of John, we see that the desire of the Lord is not that we would remain individuals, but one in Jesus and the Father {John 17:21}.  We see that it was never the Lords intent to leave us without Him in our lives.  More than that, many are surprised to learn that God has NEVER not been a part of our lives.  What does the phrase "come to Jesus" mean to you?  Ask any Christian of how they came to Jesus and you will get many different answers and stories of lives transformed.  This is all well and good, but is it truly what happens?  Do we come to Jesus, or do we eventually recognize Him in our lives?  If we read the words of the apostle Paul we might get a different perspective than the one we've been taught all of these years.  It is Paul who recognized that it was Christ who resided in him {Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:8}.  Paul speaks not of himself, but of Jesus.  You might consider Paul's experience on the road to Damascus to be his come to Jesus moment, but was it?  I suggest that Paul had a connection to Jesus long before his so called conversion.  For the Lord has also breathed into Paul the breath of life which we all have {Genesis 2:7}.  The DNA of the Father has been in us from our very first breath.  So what do you say of your come to Jesus moment now?  What about me?  

There is no independent, self - operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Ex. 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside me" {Isa. 45:5}  

Norman Grubb, No Independent Self 

Tell someone that they do not exist and you're likely to get more than a few blank stares in return.  But I suggest that we do not exist, at least in the way we've been taught for so long.  We know from scripture that Adam and Eve communed and communicated with God in the garden {Genesis 2:17-18}.  They were not separate from God, but an extension of Him.  The same can be said of our lives today.  We do not wander this world as lost souls searching for our own come to Jesus moment, but we walk IN HIM.  The trouble is that we have been misled for far too many years.  Mainstream church theology perpetuates this lone wolf narrative in their teachings.  We "come to Jesus."  We are to "be like" Jesus.  I suggest that have never been meant to resemble Christ, but to BE HIM {Galatians 2:20}.  This truth was not simply destined for Paul, but for all of the Lords children.  God has always been a part of our makeup.  We do ourselves a disservice when we allow ourselves to follow the broken theology which preaches that we need to justify ourselves before God before He will accept us.  He is our loving Father and creator and we have never been apart from Him in any way.  What we HAVE done is fall for the lie that we are somehow separated from Him.  This is the lie which the accuser spoke to Eve in the garden {Genesis 3:5-6}.  It is the lie which many continue to live out today.  It is the lie we perpetuate each time we ask...what about me?  

Are you not aware that you are a temple of God and the spirit of God is making its home in you? 

1 Corinthians 3: 16, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Hope Of Glory

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  

Matthew 8: 23 - 27 NKJV 

There has certainly been a lot of anxiety across our nation lately.  I have even heard more than a few people comment that they've lost all hope that things will ever return to a sense of a normal life.  In the past year we have been witness to unprecedented social lockdowns on account of a virus who's severity you may or may not believe in.  Nonetheless, here we are.  Add to that the instances of obvious election fraud we have seen in the aftermath of our national elections.  To be honest, I can understand how one might contemplate all that is going on and come to the conclusion that hope...is lost.  Well, being a bit of a pessimist myself, I've fallen into that rabbit hole that tells us there is no hope from time to time.  I'm here to tell you that hope is alive and well.  How is it that I can attest to that?  Well, just this week we have learned that the long awaited coronavirus vaccine initiated by president Trump will begin being distributed in the next few weeks.  That in itself is reason for hope.  However, we have also learned that more than a few of the legal battles being fought against the fraud of this past election may be on a fast track to being decided in the Supreme Court.  This may indeed be some long awaited good news for many, but what about when the next life crisis rears it's ugly head?  What about when that next storm comes?  Will your hopes wash away as quickly as they have with our recent events?  If so then your focus might be misplaced.  In other words, where is it that you are placing your hope?  In whom are you placing your hope?  Is your hope in Donald Trump that he might bring stability to our lives once again?  If so then you might want to consider who it is that allowed Trump to be where he is today.  We're told that our governing authorities exist and are appointed by God {Romans 13:1}.  Yes, we have the freedom to choose who we wish to see in office, but ultimately it is God who raises up for Himself leaders.  I was contemplating this scripture this week before I realized that my own hopes had been misplaced.  For those who know the Lord, there is never a reason to lose hope.  

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8: 28 NKJV 

I'll admit that I am a devoted listener to conservative icon Rush Limbaugh, have been for years.  Now, some there are people who criticize him for stoking fear in his audience.  I disagree.  A favorite Limbaugh quote he has used often lately since his cancer treatment began is "I woke up this morning and thanked God that I did!"  Not long ago, my own emotions followed the ebb and tide of the shifting winds of current events.  I'll admit that when we're surrounded by bad news, it can be difficult to keep our thoughts grounded.  But when we know the Lord Jesus, we are never surrounded by bad news.  The apostle Paul assured us of this in Colossians where he shared the greatest hope of all...the hope of glory in Christ Jesus {Colossians 1:27}.  Paul was speaking to the reality of Christ in us, which he also introduces in Galatians {Galatians 2:20}.  Our hopes are not to be grounded on the whims of the world, but on the hope of the glory which we have in Christ.  And if we have Jesus, we know that all things work together for good because we love Him.  How many of you have thanked the Lord for all He is doing in our nation?  Yes, many of you will say that it looks as if our nation is teetering on the edge, but does that change who God is?  Does that change who you are in Christ?  Despite all that rages around us, we are to be content with the constant knowing that He is in us.  Jesus is a intimate part of who we are.  When we encounter the storms, it is Jesus who walks through them with us.  He is a part of all which we feel, experience and do.  Tell me, how is that a reason to lose hope?  

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; which is Christ Jesus in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1: 27 NKJV 

~Scott~ 

Lone Wolves

 Rizzo ~ "Mike Eruzione...Winthrop Massachusetts!" 

Herb ~ "Who do you play for?"

Rizzo ~ "I play for....the United States of America!"

Herb ~ "That's all gentleman" 

The boys of this U.S. Olympic hockey team had just been through over two hours of grueling end to end ice skating drills.  Up until this point, many of the players were more concerned with personal statistics than becoming a team which could compete against the worlds best.  They were, as their coach Herb Brooks told them, a bunch of lone wolves.  Brooks preached that individuals would not win in the Olympics, yet up until this point his words had not been heeded by his players.  In fact, the reason they were in their current predicament was because of a lackluster effort against a team they should have beaten easily.  For coach Brooks, it was the last straw.  Lone wolves would not win games.  His team would not be a team of individuals.  As his players stood on the line waiting for Brooks to send them once again, team captain Mike Eruzione told Herb Brooks what he had been waiting so long to hear.  His team was finally a United States team.  A few months later, playing as that team, his players defeated the best team in the world in what was best described as a miracle.  At the conclusion of the 1980 winter Olympics, Herb Brooks' boys stood on the winners podium with their gold medals.  Not as individuals, but as a team.  As Herb Brooks preached to his team, individuals do not win in team sports.  The same could also be said for Christianity.  Those who believe in Jesus are not alone but part of a larger family whose head is Jesus {Colossians 1:18}.  Yet far too many believers go through life living a lie.  They have bought into the lie the accuser spoke to Eve in the garden.  Satan had assured Eve that when she took of the fruit which the Lord had commanded her not to eat that she would be "like God" {Genesis 3:4-6}.  This, of course, was a lie.  But Eve could not have known that, having been created in the Lords image, that she was ALREADY like God {Genesis 1:27}.  Even so, Satan convinced Adam and Eve to buy in to his lie.  This is the very same lie of the accuser that Christians continue to live today.  Many believers have been taught that they are somehow separated from God who created them.  This lie is often perpetuated by the theology of the mainstream church.  

There is no independent, self - operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Ex 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me"{Isa 45:5}. 

Norman Grubb, No Independent Self

Just as coach Brooks' players were under the false belief that a team of individual stars could win, many well meaning believers mistakenly believe the Christian life they live is the desire of the Lord.  They struggle and strive, believing that in the end their efforts will bring them closer to God.  But they are living a lie.  The lie being that we, by our own efforts, will be deemed "good enough" to share eternity with God.  However, the apostle Paul spoke against this way of thinking in Ephesians when he said that it is the grace of God which saves us and not our own efforts {Ephesians 2:8-9}.  Therefore, believing that we must do better, pray more and give more is only believing in the lie of the accuser.  This has never been the desire of the Lord.  What HAS been the desire of God is that His children would be one with Him {John 17:21}.  God did not provide His Son as a sacrifice that we would continue in our struggle to be good enough for Him.  Paul again spoke to the reality of who we are in Galatians.  It is Christ Jesus who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.  We are not a collection of struggling, striving lone wolves, but one family in the Father.  Knowing this truth will change your life.  You were not meant to strive for the Fathers love and acceptance.  We were never meant to live apart from Him.  We are one in Him.  

For in grace, through faith, are you saved, and this is not out of you; it is Gods approach present, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting. 

Ephesians 2: 8-9, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Christian Rage

 

"Happy are you whenever they should be reproaching and persecuting you and, falsifying, saying every wicked thing against you, on My account." 

Matthew 5: 11, Concordant New Testament 

Watching the news last night I witnessed the full, indignant rage of Christians as they protested outside of Dodger stadium in Los Angeles.  If you've had your head under a rock for the past month or so then you haven't heard of the anti Christian trans gender group Sisters of perpetual indulgence being honored at pride night at Dodgers stadium.  These trans gender activists have made it a habit of mocking everything Christian from our faith to defiling the name of Jesus as well.  Last night, it looked as if the militant arm of the American Christian church was out in full force to protest these blasphemers.  One particular protestor held up a sign which stated "Ask me why you're going to hell."  As I watched this spectacle I asked myself, what are we trying to prove here?  What are we, as believers, attempting to show the world through this protest?  The love and kindness of Christ?  Yeah, good luck with that.  For as you rant and rave against those who mock you in the name of Jesus, you somehow feel that it is our ordained right as followers of Jesus to judge those who more than likely have never met Him.  I get it.  I used to know a man who was so deeply into the institutional church theology that at times he made it seem like I was still living under the law.  I made it known to him many times that I did not follow the same God he did.  My God is merciful.  My Jesus gave Himself for me {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  My Jesus did not condemn me, but raised me up.  I wonder how it is that Jesus would react to the protests I saw last night.  My question would be answered in His interaction with the woman caught in Adultery.  By all rights, this daughter of the Lord was guilty of her sin.  Yet Jesus did not come to condemn but to redeem.  For through Christ Jesus there is NO condemnation {Romans 8:1}.  Jesus sent a powerful message to those who had judged the woman for her actions, "Let the sinless one of you cast the first stone at her" {John 8:7}.  Somehow I think that Jesus would have the very same response to the protestors I saw last night, "Neither am I condemning you."  

If the world is hating you, know that it has hated Me first before you.

John 15: 18, Concordant New Testament 

Recently I've been looking at the situation of the perpetual sisters through the lens of another story.  That story is the continuing decline in our church congregations.  Those who follow Jesus are telling us that they are tired of the song and dance of the mainstream church.  The writing is on the pulpits and has been for some time.  Our traditional church congregations have seen a exodus of disenchanted believers looking for something more than they were getting in the church.  I might be mistaken, but I do not believe that these are the militant Christians I saw last night.  The protestors I saw last night were those who continue to hold on to the old traditions of the mainstream church.  The world has disgraced Jesus, and it is our sacred duty to condemn the blasphemers!  Yeah, like God needs our help defending Himself.  This is the mistake we often make when we run across those who mock Jesus.  Somehow we feel that it is our duty to condemn those who do the mocking.  To those of us who condemn Jesus has a simple message, "Let the sinless one of you cast the first stone."  So, who's going to toss that first stone against these blatant blasphemers of the name of Jesus?  I'll pass on that.  I know that my own history is not so clean.  I know that it is only because of Jesus that I am able to rest in Him while the world condemns me.  It is not my duty to condemn those who blaspheme the Lord.  It is the nature of Christ Jesus to love those who do.  

If anyone should be saying that "I am loving God," and should be hating his brother, he is a liar; for he who is not loving his brother whom he has seen can not be loving God Whom he has not seen.

1 John 4: 20, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~