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   Long time subscribers to God’s Church’s teachings know we have no personal, political or religious agendas. Our message is to people being called to follow Jesus. No bells, whistles or advertisements. It’s God’s Word as originally presented & correctly divided, we mostly use the ‘Net Bible Translation’ because of it being English friendly. Commentary is spiritually revealed with Godly principles, demonstrating that God doesn’t change, “Jesus is the Lord God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, His twelve apostles, the one written about by His called prophets and David.  

    Satan induced theories through gullible people have been dividing the word of God and deceiving populations since he caused Eve to ponder, “whether or not her Creator had her best interest in mind, or if He held back?” Eve and Adam’s doubts was sin, and their disobedience brought on God’s promised result of sin, which is eternal death. But God had a redemptive plan based on Godly love for His created in His image. (The Lord God and Creator, ‘Jesus’ would personally take on the nature of man and give His life for His chosen’s redemption from sin.) ‘Jesus’ life being worth more than the sum total of all others was given to save those being led to trust Him.’ Saved from the result of our inherited from Adam disobedient nature; ‘that is, be redeemed from that sin nature’s result through Jesus’ shed blood’, be converted to the obedient spiritual nature of Jesus’. (God’s gifted spirit living in the called, ‘is the mystery unbelieving populations can’t understand’ until it’s gifted.) (The English word, ‘redemption’ means, “the act of saving something or somebody from a declined, dilapidated, corrupted state, and restore it to a new condition.) It’s what believing IN Jesus accomplishes through gifted faith.

    This life blood sacrifice of the Son of God for the remission of sin was pre-planed, for the particular time of God the Father’s choosing. All blood sacrifices from Adam’s time, looked forward to the Son of God’s blood sacrifice. Blood is life. God instructed at Genesis 9:4-6; “But you must not eat meat with its life (that is its blood) in it. For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, “from every living creature I will exact punishment.” From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man is his relative. “Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image He has made man.”

    (Leviticus 17:10-12; Any man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in their midst who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I Myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. Therefore, I have said to Israel: No person among you is to eat blood, and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood.)

   God has respect for life, ‘particularly for His selected people.’ Not only was it pre-planed that the Son of God would sacrifice His blood, ‘His life,’ for the world, ‘His followers would spiritually immerse themselves in Him to the degree’, “they’d depend on His life blood for their saving.”

    It’s about being Christ like. (John 6:52-58; Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began to argue with one another, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood resides in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes Me will live (eternally) because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ate, but then later died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.)

   It’s the nature of unbelieving people to theorize everything, and Satan doesn’t have to push people to think and mimic Eve’s thinkig. Only when God reveals Himself and we understand His love, can we love Him in kind. Satan and this world’s system is about indoctrination. It’s in our so called advanced societies, programmed in children and leads to acceptance of evolutionary theories. Indoctrination planted in minds, can only be miraculously opened by God, who replaces errors with His truth. Jesus, His prophets and apostles all said as much! Satan’s deceptive indoctrinations began with Adam and Eve. Job understood, so consider Job’s comments to his friends, who were attempting to discover the reason for his dilemma.

    (Job 12;4-6;I am a laughing-stock to my friends, I, who called on God and whom He answered – a righteous and blameless man, a laughingstock. For calamity there is derision ‘mocking’ ‘according to the ideas of the fortunate.’ (Fortunate? The Hebrew word means ‘easy in mind, carefree and happy.’) A fate for those whose feet slip! But the tents of robbers are peaceful, and those who provoke God are confident – who carry their god in their hands.)

    So it is in our demonic indoctrinated world. A righteous and blameless person (in God’s view) is foolish to unbelievers, living carefree and confident in their little god to themselves mentality. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. Jesus’ apostle Paul expressed it best.

    (But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.) 2 Cor 4-3-4. (Satan wants people conformed to this world’s system of things, ‘the unbeliever’s way.’) Paul advised.

    (Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.)

   (1Cor 1:18-25; For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.)

   This world’s system, education, entertainment, judgments and religions all lean to the demonic doctrine of evolution. Prophecies and teachings of Jesus are discounted as foolishness. (Jesus’ second coming and His purpose in sacrificing Himself is not understood by unbelievers, those who teach Jesus, but not His Way and message.) (Those who ‘believe that’, but don’t ‘believe IN.’) (For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ, and they will mislead many.’ Matt 24:5) (And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matt 24:11-14)

       WHAT END? The end of lawlessness! End of NOT believing IN God and His Way; NOT believing God is absolute, that He’s One and His truth absolute. The love of many grow cold because of demonic lawlessness! People evolve to a “believing that” and away from “believing IN.” Prophecies like that found at Zacharias 12: are discounted as fables.

One with God the Father, Jesus & one another, chapter 18 

To 33,300 subscribers to Church of God teaching, God’s 5^th Mo Ab 18, 5,781, 7/28/21.   

    God the Father’s commandment is eternal life. A quote from Jesus. at John 12:50) Obviously Jesus isn’t speaking of doing or keeping the ten commandments as the way to obtain eternal life. If He were that’d be, ‘by keeping the ten commandment one could earn eternal life’ and boast about it. If eternal life could be earned by good works many could boast. Followers of Jesus are spiritually led to understand, “the root” “the foundation” of God’s commandments is LOVE and “through believing IN Jesus is eternal Life!” God the Father’s commandment is that we believe IN God the Son, “Jesus.” Not a ‘belief that’ but a ‘belief IN’ that compels obedience. Loving God is to love His commandments and live immersed in Jesus. Jesus repeatedly said; “He and God the Father were in agreement.” At One with one another. 

   (John 12:49; For I have not spoken from My own authority, but the Father Himself who sent Me has commanded Me what I should say and what I should speak.) We can’t love Gods Way independent of His spirit and revelations. Jesus inspired these teachings through His apostles. 

    God the Father and God the Son are Spirit. They host and command many loyal angelic beings, ‘angels.’ Through God’s Spirit is “eternal Life.” God imputes His Life Giving Spirit, ‘immortality.’ Described as, ‘being born from above’ or ‘fathered.’ Without His fathering no one can enter the kingdom of God. So, let’s attempt to understand the workings of God’s miraculous spirit. 

    (Gen 1:2; Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. Genesis 1:2) Here, spirit is likened to, ‘wind from the breath of God’ or ‘mighty wind’ the Word of God” representing the superlative. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals. (EXAMPLE: Exodus 31:1-11; The Lord spoke to Moses; “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in skill, in understanding, in knowledge, in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work with gold, with silver, with bronze, with cutting, setting stone, with cutting wood and to work in all kinds of craftsmanship. Moreover, “I have also given him ‘Oholiab’ son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given ability to all the specially skilled, that they may make everything I have commanded you: “the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the atonement lid that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent, the table with its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar for the burnt offering with all its utensils, the large basin with its base, the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and garments for his sons, to minister as priests, the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the Holy Place. They will make all these things just as I have commanded you.) 

     God also gives us the example of Balaam’s spirit gifted prophecy and his being tempted with riches. His is looking back to a millennial prophesy. 

    (Numbers 24:1-8; When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at the other times to seek for omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness. When Balaam ‘lifted up his eyes’ he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. Then he uttered this oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor; the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open: ‘How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, and your dwelling places, O Israel! They are like valleys stretched forth, like gardens by the river’s side, like aloes that the Lord has planted, and like cedar trees beside the waters. He will pour the water out of His buckets, and the descendants will be like abundant water; their king will be greater than Agag, and their kingdom will be exalted. This Lord God brought them out of Egypt. 

   They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull; they will devour hostile people and will break their bones and will pierce them through with arrows. They crouch and lie down like a lion, and as a lioness, who can stir him? Blessed is the one who blesses you, and cursed is the one who curses you.) 

    As with God’s spirit gifting Bezalel with special talents in craftsmanship, “through His spirit” God caused Balaam’s eyes to be spiritually opened, “he then understood the words of God and gave true prophecy regarding God’s chosen people:” later Balaam was tempted with riches. (A gentile ruler; “Balak” played with Balaam’s vanity and asked him to curse Israel.) As Israel continued to be blessed, Balak became angry with Balaam. 

   (Num 24:10-14; Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them these three times! So now, go back where you came from! I said that I would greatly honor you; but now the Lord has stood in the way of your honor.” Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak,’ And now, I am about to go back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.) 

    By gifting His spirit to individuals, God can give talents beyond natural abilities, open minds, reveal Himself, give people like Abraham, Moses, David and Isaiah prophetic visions. (Remember Psalms 69: from our previous study?) Through His spirit God gave Isaiah a vision of Jesus’ coming rule. 

   (Isaiah 42:1-7; Here is My servant whom I support, My chosen One in whom I take pleasure. I have placed My spirit on Him; He will make just decrees for the nations. He will not cry out or shout; He will not publicize Himself in the streets. A crushed reed He will not break, a dim wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully make just decrees. He will not grow dim or be crushed before establishing justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait in anticipation for His decrees.” This is what the true God, the Lord, says – the One who created the sky and stretched it out, the One who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, the One who gives breath to the people on it, and life to those who live on it: “I, the Lord, officially commission You, “Jesus” I take hold of Your hand. I protect You and make You a covenant Mediator for people, and a Light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons.) 

   Through His spirit, God emits spiritual understanding. Through His spirit God gives breath and life. Through His spirit God the Father resurrected Jesus who will establish justice on earth, through God the Son, “Jesus.” May we be led to praise Him. 

    When explaining ’being born from above” to Nicodemus, Jesus said; (John 3:7-8; Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.) We can’t earn salvation or conjure up God’s mind opening spirit. 

    JESUS was the One revealing His Father’s commission to Himself, “His own status and characteristics to Isaiah.” Next God reveals through Isaiah, Jesus’ powers and Israel’s future millennial promises. 

   (Isaiah 49:1-13; Listen to Me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away. The Lord summoned Me from birth; He commissioned Me when My mother brought Me into the world. He made My mouth like a sharp sword, He hid Me in the hollow of His hand; He made Me like a sharpened arrow, He hid Me in His quiver. He said to Me, “You are My servant Israel, through whom I will reveal My splendor.” But I thought, “I have worked in vain; I have expended My energy for absolutely nothing.” But the Lord will vindicate Me; My God will reward Me. So now the Lord says, “the One who formed Me from birth to be His servant – He did this to restore Jacob to Himself, so that Israel might be gathered to Him; and I will be honored in the Lord’s sight, for My God is My source of strength – He says, “Is it too insignificant a task for You to be My servant, to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant of Israel? I will make You a light to the nations, so you can bring My deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.” This is what the Lord, the Protector of Israel, their Holy One, says to the One who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and rise in respect, princes will bow down, because of the faithful Lord, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.” This is what the Lord says: “At the time I decide to show My favor, I will respond to You; in the day of deliverance I will help You; I will protect You and make You a covenant Mediator for people, to rebuild the land and to reassign the desolate property. You will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those who are in dark dungeons, ‘Emerge’ They will graze beside the roads; on all the slopes they will find pasture. They will not be hungry or thirsty; the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, for One who has compassion on them will guide them; He will lead them to springs of water. I will make all My mountains into a road; I will construct My roadways.” Look, they come from far away! Look, some come from the north and west, and others from the land of Sinim! Shout for joy, O sky! Rejoice, O earth! Let the mountains give a joyful shout! For the Lord consoles His people and shows compassion to the oppressed.) 

    Through His spirit, God revealed these things to Isaiah and through His GIFTED spirit, “Believers IN are trusting through gifted faith in His Word.” Jesus is the subject of Isaiah’s prophesy. (Now Jesus reveals His suffering.) 

    (Isaiah 50:4-11; The sovereign Lord has given Me the capacity to be His spokesman, so that I know how to help the weary. He wakes Me up every morning; He makes Me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. The sovereign Lord has spoken to Me clearly; I have not rebelled; I have not turned back. I offered My back to those who attacked, My jaws to those who tore out My beard; I did not hide My face from insults and spitting. But the sovereign Lord helps Me, so I am not humiliated. For that reason, I am steadfastly resolved; I know I will not be put to shame. The one who vindicates Me is close by. Who dares to argue with Me? Let us confront each other! Who is My accuser? Let him challenge Me! Look, the sovereign Lord helps Me. Who dares to condemn Me? Look, all of them “THOSE WHO CONDEMN ME” will wear out like clothes; a moth will eat away at them. Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys His servant, “Jesus?” Whoever walks in deep darkness, without light, should trust in the name of the Lord and rely on His God ‘Jesus.’ (Look, all of you who start a fire and who equip yourselves with flaming arrows, walk in the light of the fire you started and among the flaming arrows you ignited! This is what you will receive from Me: “you will lie down in a place of pain.) 

     This world’s populations are walking in deep darkness, rely on their thinking and practiced way of living. This world’s populations ignite their own way and equip themselves. 

      Through His spirit, God reveals His promises and truths to followers of Jesus, and Jesus reveals God’s is love, ‘that His commandment foundation is from His Life, “spirit.’ 

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      When Satan’s demise is near, he’ll send a flood to destroy God’s Elect, but God will open the earth and swallow it. (See Rev 12:12-18) Remember last study and how the Egyptians were destroyed.

    Why were the Israelites stubborn, prone to look to other gods and desire a king like the pagan nations? Why do pagans worship god’s heavenly created bodies, statues and images? Why do people prefer worshiping a god of their imagination and attempt to make our Creator fit an image to their liking? THE ANSWER IS everyone inherited Adam’s lawless nature, that desires what seems right to the fleshly mind. SO, the reality is; “people MUST have a nature change,” a changed outlook in order to be mature in God‘s View; be born from above in order to inherit eternal life. See John 3:3-8.

    Nicodemus ask Jesus about His performances and teaching. (John 3:3-8; Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.)

Nicodemus first thought Jesus was talking about a second physical birth, when He was in fact referring to a new spiritual birth: how can this be?

(John 3:10-12; Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

Jesus said, “as the wind blows, so is everyone born of the spirit.” It’s a miracle that we don’t know how the desire came, or how our minds changed from a fleshly outlook to a spiritual one. When we’re called God reveals our despicable inherited from Adam nature to us, its result being eternal death, and grants our desire to turn - repent.

Jesus continued; (John 3:13-16; No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven, ‘the Son of Man.’ Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.)

It’s by God’s grace when we believe, by grace we’re saved, and we must be gifted with a nature change in order to believe IN Jesus as He manifested  Himself to be. The many believe a deity exist, many use Jesus’ name, but only the called are gifted with the desire for a supernatural nature change, ”thus able to truly BELIEVE IN.”

(John 3:17-18; For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. The one who believes IN Him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.) Each recipient of God’s spirit is saved through Jesus’ shed blood ‘His life’ and His being our Mediator. We must be gifted to abandon what seems right, and adapt to what Jesus says is right.

(John 3:19-21; Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds ‘desires’ were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.)

People hating the light want to live and practice deeds according to their fleshly desires. Thus the love of money is the root of all evil. Jesus gave Paul to understand and Jesus reveals to the called.

    (Romans 8:5-11; For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, (followers of Jesus) however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the One who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through His Spirit who lives in you.)

Until called and supernaturally born from above, each person is an unbeliever that can’t please God, because their inherited nature is hostile to God’s Way. Unbelievers are a stubborn lot, but believers desire a oneness relationship with God.

Since Adam people have been choosing to live according to the dictates of their inherited from Adam nature, rather than looking to their Creator for guidance. The few exceptions are, a people chosen by promise for God‘s purpose. Luke 3:23-38; gives the chronology of Jesus’ physical ancestors, and those desiring a oneness relationship with God. These had little in common with the world, as Jesus was in, but not of the world.

Friendships with communities are strained, when we believe IN God. It’s natural that many called out people try to straddle the fence for a time, only to find; “sooner or later they’re as strangers.” By God’s calling and our believing IN Jesus’ blood sacrifice for the remission of sin, Jesus is able to presents us holy, blameless and without blemish before God the Father on that day. NOT a faith in some denomination, but “believing IN God faith.” A Faith that waits on Jesus’ promises. Paul taught, we individually need to prove, examine all things and have faith that the Father will make us holy, IN Jesus.

(1Thess 5:16-24; Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and He will in fact do this.)

Jesus’ Gifted Faith, teaches us; “God does it all!” Followers of Jesus are asked to pray for, have patience with denominationalist and those weak in faith. Paul taught it to Believers IN Jesus at Rome and around the world.

(Romans 15:1-6; But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. For even Christ did not please Himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on Me.” For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.) (Insults of those who insult Believers have fallen on Jesus, is a quote from Psalms 69.

After we’re called, a continual examination of self in Jesus’ Light begins. A responsibility of each Believer IN Jesus is to; “overcome our inherited nature to the end.” After gifted with a belief IN Jesus, we’re spirit led to overcome our self serving inherited nature! that yields to our fleshly nature’s pulls, those bad examples to the world. The Psalmist realized this and shared his Faith.

(Psalms 69:6-9; Let none who rely on You be disgraced because of me, O sovereign Lord and king! Let none who seek You be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel! For I suffer humiliation for Your sake and am thoroughly disgraced. My own brothers treat me like a stranger; they act as if I were a foreigner. Certainly zeal for Your house consumes me; I endure the insults of those who insult You.)

Followers of Jesus soon discover, “Having a zeal for God’s Way causes insults from unbelievers. Remember Jesus’ words, “they will hate you because they hated Me.”  

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   Remember Jesus spoke in parables so majorities wouldn’t understand. Parable of a poor and rich man’s plight was; ‘one went to Abraham, the other to a place of torment, so he ask that Lazarus be sent to his father’s house, so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ (Luke 16:29-31; But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ The rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’) So it is, Jesus came and warned of sin’s result. Not only that, Jesus was the Deliverer of Israel through Moses, and shared the same with him for His chosen people.

   (Exodus 14:1-4; The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites that they must turn and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you are to camp by the sea before Baal Zephon opposite it. Pharaoh will think regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor because of Pharaoh and because of all his army and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So this is what they did.’ When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army coming after them they were fearful. (Remember ‘Israel’ means ‘God fights.’

    (Exodus 14:13-31; Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord that He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you can be still.” The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to move on. And as for you, lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. And as for Me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will come after them, that I may be honored because of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I have gained My honor because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.) After they crossed, the Lord said: “extend your hand toward the sea so that the waters may flow back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen!” So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state when the sun began to rise. Now the Egyptians were fleeing before it, but the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea – not so much as one of them survived! But the Israelites walked on dry ground in the middle of the sea, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. So the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. When Israel saw the great power that the Lord had exercised over the Egyptians, they feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.)

    What does it take for some to believe IN the Lord? Remember the apostle Thomas? What did Jesus say to him before His ascension? (John 20:29; Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed.)

    After wondering 40 years the Lord God was about to deliver the Israelites across the Jordan to the land promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord God appeared in a cloud informing Moses that he was about to die and after his death the Israelites would corrupt themselves. Call a meeting with Joshua; “I will commission him.” God knew the Israelites’ intentions, what they and all people have in mind today, even before He would deliver them to the land I have promised.” Moses called a meeting and said; (Deut 31:27-31; “for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. For I know that after I die you will totally corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly before the Lord, inciting Him to anger because of your actions.” Then Moses recited the words of this song from start to finish in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel.) Note the prophetic words in the following song.

   (Exodus 15:1-4; Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said, “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously, the horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea. The Lord⁷ is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him, My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is His name. The chariots of Pharaoh and his army He has thrown into the sea, and His chosen officers were drowned in the Red Sea.

   The depths have covered them, they went down to the bottom like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power, your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. In the abundance of Your majesty You have overthrown those who rise up against You. You sent forth Your wrath; it consumed them like stubble. By the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.”

    “The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?

    “You stretched out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them. By Your loyal love You will lead the people whom You have redeemed; You will guide them by Your strength to Your holy dwelling place. The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, trembling will seize the leaders of Moab, and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake. Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of Your arm they will be as still as stone Until Your people pass by, O Lord, until the people whom You have bought pass by.”

    You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,

in the place you made for your residence, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established. The Lord will reign forever and ever! For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and his footmen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.”

    “Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand-drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand-drums and with dances. Miriam sang in response to them, “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.”

    “Then Moses led Israel to journey away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days into the desert, and found no water. Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.) So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there He tested them. He said, “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and pay attention to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

    Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.)

    God knows the intent of hearts and nations. When God isn’t directly involved, people become vulnerable to demonic divisions and to what seems right to their inherited from Adam nature. That Lord God speaking to Moses was Jesus, and He came as prophesied and proclaimed that His words would be our judge.

   (John 12:44-50; But Jesus shouted out, “The one who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in the One who sent Me, and the one who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me should not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My words and does not obey them. I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects Me and does not accept My words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day. For I have not spoken from My own authority, but the Father Himself who sent Me has commanded Me what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told Me.)

   The Father’s command is that we believe IN His Son and His words will Judge us “at the last day.” Jesus is revealed to many now, and during His millennial reign, He will be revealed to the world. Seemingly many will reject Him. Now back to Paul’s summations.

    (Acts 13:40-41; Watch out, then, that what is spoken about by the prophets does not happen to you: ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish!) (See Revelations 19:, 20:10-15, & 21:8) God’s ultimate desire for His people is that righteousness and pureness be theirs. It’s what the Father revealed through Jesus. Proofs that the holy scriptures are God inspired are numerous. (David like Abraham, believed in the Lord.)

    (Psalms 145:13-21; “Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord supports all who fall, and lifts up all who are bent over. Everything looks to You in anticipation, and you provide them with food on a regular basis. You open your hand, and fill every living thing with the food they desire. The Lord is just in all His actions, and exhibits love in all He does. The Lord is near all who cry out to Him, all who cry out to Him sincerely. He satisfies the desire of His loyal followers; He hears their cry for help and delivers them. The Lord protects those who love Him, but He destroys all the wicked. My mouth will praise the Lord. Let all who live praise His holy name forever!)

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    When the Lord God Jesus called Moses He said; “I am that I am.” And He said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” The God of your fathers has sent me; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “This is My name forever, and this is My memorial from generation to generation.” “I have promised that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

     The Lord promised Moses; (Exodus 6:7-8; I will take you Israelites’ to Myself for a people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob – and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord!’) (He hardened Pharaoh’s heart and made Moses as a god to him.

     See Exodus 4: through 11: After numerous plagues on the Egyptians, and after the night to be much remembered, the Egyptians were ready to thrust Israel out. They gave the Israelites riches and hastened their departure. Israel traveled a long way on that 14^th day of Nisan.

    The Lord said; (Exodus 13:8-10; You are to tell your son, ‘on that day’ ‘it is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ It will be a sign for you on your hand and a memorial on your forehead, so that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth, for with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. So you must keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.)

     After witnessing the Egyptian’s drowning the Israelites gave the Lord praise. (Exodus 15:6-9; Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. In the abundance of your majesty You have overthrown those who rise up against You. You sent forth Your wrath; it consumed them like stubble. By the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them.’) (These things are forerunners of Israel’s future deliverance and Jesus’ new Passover ordinances.) Remember this covenant making Lord God Jesus had to die in order to make that first covenant void, and establish a new spiritual covenant.

    (John 13:1-17; Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that His time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now loved them to the very end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus. Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to Him and that He had come from God and was going back to God, He got up from the meal, removed His outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around Himself. He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel He had wrapped around Himself.

    Then He came to Simon Peter. Peter said to Him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but you will understand after these things.” Peter said to Him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus replied, “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not every one of you.) (For Jesus knew the one who was going to betray Him. For this reason He said, “Not every one of you is clean.)

    So when Jesus had washed their feet and put His outer clothing back on, He took His place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. If I then your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example – you should do just as I have done for you. I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them.)

       Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was prophesied.

    (John 13:31-35; When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and He will glorify Him right away. Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for Me, and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ now I tell you the same. “I give you a new commandment – to love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are My disciples – if you have love for one another.) (So, how can all followers of Jesus love God and one another? By each being recipients of the same spirit.

   (John 13:36-38; Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied Me three times!”)

   Jesus’ apostles practiced all Jesus instructed. Some in the Corinth church of God didn’t comprehend the spiritual significance of Passover, so Paul explained.

    (1Cor 11:20-33; Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

    “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread and after He had given thanks He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

    For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.

   But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. So then my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat wait for one another. If anyone is hungry let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.)

The Passover season is about examining ourselves in Jesus’ Light. Put that which puffs up out from our fleshly nature, consider how pulls of the fleshly nature imposes its will on our character. Putting leavening agents out was a strong physical reminder. Remember sin is lawlessness in God’s view. David’s experience is for our learning.

   (Psalms 1:1-6; How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers. Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on His commands day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff. For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly, but the way of the wicked ends in destruction.) (Remember followers of Jesus are spiritual Israelites, (see Gal 3:29) and the word “Israel” means God fights.)

    (Acts 2:29-35; Brothers, I ‘Peter’ can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His body experience decay. This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He, ‘Jesus’ has poured out what you both see and hear. For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, ‘The Lord, (God the Father) said to My Lord, (God the Son) “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for your feet.)

    Jesus’ enemies aren’t His foot stool yet. That day is soon coming. Remember Jesus said; “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven.” God the Father and God the Son have been planning it all since the foundation of the world.

    Matthew recorded Jesus’ end of age prophecies: re-study Matt. 24: Jesus inspired His apostle Paul to write Timothy.

     (2Tim 4:1 I-8; I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction. For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths. You however be self-controlled in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry. For, I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for me to depart is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith! Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day – and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on His appearing.)

       We hope many of you are praying for Jesus’ soon return. 

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    Mark 14:65; 15:19; Matt 26:67; 27:30 and Luke 18:31-34, Tells us that it was on or about the 10^th of Nisan when Jesus pulled the twelve aside to explain the reason for their going to Jerusalem. Explaining that He’d be handed over to the Gentiles be mocked, spat on and mistreated. They’d kill Him and on the third day He would rise again. They each thought ‘how could this could happen to Him’ if He’s really God’s agent.

   On or about the tenth day of this God’s first month, Jesus rode to Jerusalem on the donkey He’d foretold long before and had ‘Zachariah proclaim it.’ Zachariah’s prophecy jumps to Jesus’ second coming after telling about His humble ride to Jerusalem. Let’s review.

  (Zach 9:9; Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look, Your king is coming to you; He is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey – on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey. Next

    (Zach 9:10-17; He will remove the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be removed. Then He will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

    Moreover, as for you, (Israel) because of our covenant relationship secured with blood, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold, you prisoners with hope; today I declare that I will return double what was taken from you. I will bend Judah as My bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, My arrow! I will stir up your sons against you Zion, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, like a warrior’s sword.

    Then the Lord will appear above them, and His arrow will shoot forth like lightning; the Lord God will blow the trumpet and will sally forth on the southern storm winds. The Lord who rules over all will guard them, they will prevail, and overcome with sling stones. Then they will drink, and will become noisy like drunkards, full like the sacrificial basin or like the corners of the altar. On that day the Lord their God will deliver them as the flock of His people, for they are the precious stones of a crown sparkling over His land. How precious and fair! Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.) (Study chapter 10 to discover more.)

    (John 12:9-16; Now a large crowd of Judeans learned that Jesus was there, and so they came not only because of Him but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too, for on account of him many of the Jewish people from Jerusalem were going away and believing in Jesus.

     The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast (Passover and Unleavened Bread) heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. They began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Do not be afraid, people of Zion; look, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt!) (His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that these things had happened to him.)

   (John 12:17-19; So the crowd who had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify about it. Because they had heard that Jesus had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet Him. Thus the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”)

     The whole world will look to Jesus in a soon to be future, but until His second coming, allow Jesus’ apostle Paul tell of Satan’s worldly successes opposed to Jesus’ imputed spirit.

    (Galatians 5:17-21; For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!)

    Paul is NOT saying that every unbeliever practicing these things are evil, but like faith. Generally unbelievers do appreciate people’s overcoming these inherited characteristics, but give little consideration to things that are an abomination to our Creator.

    (Gal 5:22-25; But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.)

    Jealously is a fleshly inherited characteristic! Jesus is the only child EVER born, that never practiced the characteristics of jealously. Jesus was spiritually fathered, had an obedient spirit, but learned from experience.

    Christians are heir to Jesus’ spirit, and Heirs with Abraham. (Review Galatians 3:29) All Jesus’ apostles’ letters are to the churches of God, a people gifted to understand the scripture and overcome as Jesus did.

    (Galatians 5:13-16; For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” However, if you continually bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.)

    God does not change. This command was also recorded in, “the letter of the law.”

    (Leviticus 19:18; You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.)

     Israelites before Jesus’ ascension were God’s called out people, but were NOT “born from above.” By virtue of being Jacob’s heirs ‘Israelites’ they are God‘s chosen by promise as was Isaac. The difference? called out followers of Jesus are spiritually “born from above”, by promise as Isaac, and spiritual Israelites who like Jacob’ name implies, ‘God fights for.’ (The word ‘Israel’ means ‘God fights.’ Allow Jesus’ teaching through His apostle Paul.

    Romans 8:1-14; There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.

    For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, (called believers) however, are NOT in the flesh but in the Spirit, IF indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.

    Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to Him. But IF Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover IF the Spirit of the ONE who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the ONE who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through His Spirit who lives in you.

   So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, NOT to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, (for IF you live according to the flesh, you will die), but IF by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God ARE the SONS of God.)

    By demonic deception and mankind’s fleshly logic Satan has been astronomically successful at shielding these truths.

     Proofs that the holy scriptures are God inspired are numerous. Jesus and His apostles quoted from the Old Testament often. Jesus’ apostle Peter considered David a prophet and believed David was speaking of Jesus in Psalms 16:8-11, also see Ps 30:9; 49:9; 55:24; (103:4; You lead Me in the path of life; I experience absolute joy in Your presence; You always give Me sheer delight.

    On the day of Pentecost, after God’s gifted spirit entered people; Peter proclaimed, (Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through Him, just as you yourselves know – this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing Him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. But God raised Him up, having released Him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held in its power. For David says about him, ‘I saw the Lord always in front of me, for He is at My right hand so that I will not be shaken. Therefore My heart was glad and My tongue rejoiced; My body also will live in hope, because you will not leave My soul in Hades, (Hades too, is the equivalent of the Hebrew term Pit -Sheol) nor permit your Holy One, (Jesus) to experience decay. You have made known to Me the paths of life; You will make Me full of joy with Your presence.) Acts 2:22-28)

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    Through deception and mankind’s fleshly inherited nature Satan has been astronomically successful at deceiving the whole world. His successes aren’t surprising to followers of Jesus because Jesus told us, he knows and desires to thwart God’s plan of redeeming people to Himself, he knows his demise, will cause him to more ruthless as his end nears, knows God’s chosen people will rule with Jesus and ultimately be served by angels.

    Satan knows God’s purpose is to call and make a people at one with Himself, take away their sins and make them righteous in His View. Satan knows he too is a creation of God! So let’s speculate about what caused Satan’s rebellion? (Study Isaiah 14:) He was named, Lucifer according to our King James translators, and described by Net Bible Translators as “O shining one, son of the dawn!’ Saying you have been cut down to the ground, ‘O conqueror of the nations!’ You said to yourself “I will climb up to the sky. above the stars of El, I will set up my throne, I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!)

    Jesus and His apostles referred to Satan as, ‘the old devil, the dragon and ancient serpent.’ In Jesus’ revelations to His apostle John, He identifies Satan’s rebellion, purpose and characteristics more specifically.

    (Rev 12:7-10; Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, the dragon and his angels fought back; but the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

   Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, ‘the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, the ruling authority of His Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down.)

   Satan is still the spiritual being Job described, as the accuser God allowed to persecute him, but God reestablished Job, as He will help those trusting Him.

    (Rev 12:11-12; But they, (followers of Jesus) overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them! But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!) Pray for believing IN faith, Jesus’ work on our behalf leading to our salvation.

     (Rev 12:13-18; Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to The Male Child. (Meaning: Mary, Jesus’ mother and Jesus’ church, that He’s head of.) But the woman ’church’ was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of – away from the presence of the serpent – for a time, times, and half a time. Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood, but the earth came to her rescue; the ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, ‘those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus.’ And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.”)

    Israelites remain God’s chosen and all followers of Jesus are spiritual Israelites. (See Galatians 3:29)

     Cain is our first example of one yielding to demonic influence worshiping as seeming right to himself, caused his jealousy when he knew his brother pleased God. Rebellion and jealously are likened to Satan’s thinking. Unbelievers in general, are characterized as inherited Adam’s nature, and vulnerable to Satan’s devices, which are, ‘self serving, jealous, and easily made merchandise of by the devil’s workers.’

    Understanding GOD’S truth hinges on our knowing that Jesus created all things. (Re-study John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:15-20, and Hebrews 1 again.)

      (Col 1:15-20; He (Jesus( is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created BY Him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through Him and for Him. He Himself is before all things and all things are held together in Him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that He Himself may become first in all things. For God (THE FATHER) was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in the Son and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross – through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.)

     Jesus is the Creator Lord God that communed with Abraham, the One Abraham worshiped and who called Abraham friend. He also called His apostles ‘friends rather than slave’ because He shared all that the Father shared with Him. He called Moses and through him led the Israelites from Egypt which represents sin. Jesus is still leading people from practices He views as sin, to righteous living.

     Jesus purposely endured and overcame Satan’s temptations as our example; He will bind Satan in a pit for 1,000 years not allowing his temptations! Afterwards, God will destroy Satan and all evil. As always study the whole.

    Worldly religious denominations don’t teach this Jesus, or Satan’s devises that divide, and causes people to make various assumptions about Jesus’ deity. They’re prone to think highly of their intellect which is idolatry, making Satan their god.

   A foundation for demonic worship is make Jesus fit one’s assumptions. Not worshiping Jesus as He manifested Himself to be through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and His apostles, is in fact idol worshiping. Believing these facts leaves no space for religions to be founded by human intellect. (There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death.) Proverbs 14:12)

    We can’t escape the fact that God chooses His followers, just as He chose Abraham, Isaac by promise, and Moses. By inheritance, all people are born God’s enemy, each live according to dictates of their intellect, according to what seems right. Jesus’ followers by faith recognize their inherited nature, and desire to turn from what seemed right to the fleshly mind; ‘to what God says is right.’ Paul expresses this to the Colossian Believers right after characterizing Jesus for their understanding.

    (Colossians 1:21-23; And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, but now He (Jesus) has reconciled you by His physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before Him – IF indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.)

    The gospel of obedience was taught to Adam and Eve, God telling them what was good and evil in His View, Cain and Abel about sacrifices their best. What did a disobedient spirit do to Cain’s mind? Jealously enter when learning his brother’s sacrifice was liked by God. Didn’t God lead Noah to warn the people about the result of their disobedience? Don’t we have Jesus’ commandments? By God’s calling and our believing IN Jesus’ blood sacrifice for the remission of our sins, HE is able to presents us holy, without blemish and blameless before Himself. IF we remain in the faith, NOT the faith of some denomination, but faith in His way, teachings and promises.

    Paul taught in fact, we must prove - examine individually, and that God Himself makes Believers holy.

    (1Thess 5:16-24; Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and He will in fact do this.)

      Gifted faith, teaches that God does it all. Believers are asked to pray for and have patience with denominational followers, those weak in the faith. Paul taught it to Jesus’ church in Rome.

     (Romans 15:1-6; But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. For even Christ did not please Himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on Me. For, everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.) Insults of those who insult us falls on Jesus!” Quote from Psalms 69:

     After believing IN Jesus, we each have to fight against our inherited nature‘s pull. When we yield to our fleshly nature’s pull we set bad examples to those who may be new in the faith. The Psalmist realized this and stayed in the faith.

    (Psalms 69:6-9; Let none who rely on You be disgraced because of me, O sovereign Lord and king! Let none who seek You be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel! For I suffer humiliation for Your sake, and am thoroughly disgraced. My own brothers treat me like a stranger; they act as if I were a foreigner. Certainly zeal for Your house consumes me; I endure the insults of those who insult You.)

    Having a zeal for God’s Way causes insults in the world. Remember Jesus’ words, “they will hate you because they hated Me.” There are many examples of believing people being opposed by unbelievers.

     (Acts 17:10-12; The church sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures careful every day to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.)

    God spiritually opened these minds. People of Berea were not open-minded because of education or breeding. When minds are opened to truth, God does it, less they boast. (See Acts 15:11, Eph 2:5-8, & 2 Tim 2:9.

     (Acts 17:13; But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the Word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds.)

    Thessalonica Jews yielded to their inherited jealous nature, a nature like Cain’s. Paul made this clear to Christian understanding, but unbelievers submit to beliefs, as seeming good to them, from their fleshly nature.

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   God makes called believers family, literal children, His church; these can’t be deceived or divided, they’re one, with the Father and Son. His Way is revealed and these are defined at Mat 24:24, ‘the Elect whose names are written in the Lamb Book of Life.’ His gifted Holy Spirit binds to make each, One, with the Father, Son and each other, thus see all things through the same gifted spirit of truth. (See John 15:15) These know the only solution to this divided world’s problems is Jesus’ return with His promises: however glad to see political push backs to demonic take over’s because of, ‘love of the home land.’ These hope for temporary successes if it fits Jesus’ return schedule. Consider revelations to David at Psalms 69: (His View Assemblies)

King David was made to understand Jesus’ glory & suffering.

   (Psalms 23; The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He takes me to lush pastures He leads me to refreshing water. He restores my strength. He leads me down the right paths for the sake of His reputation. Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff reassure me. You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies. You refresh my head with oil; my cup is completely full. Surely Your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days, and I will live in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life.)

KING David and all Believers IN Jesus will be in the first resurrection & serve with Jesus! David was spiritually led to pen prayers and prophecy.

Jesus revealed and David wrote. (Psalms 69:20-36; Their insults are painful and make Me lose heart; I look for sympathy, but receive none, for comforters, but find none. They put bitter poison into My food, and to quench My thirst they give Me vinegar to drink. May their dining table become a trap before them! May it be a snare for that group of friends! May their eyes be blinded! Make them shake violently! Pour out Your judgment on them! May your raging anger overtake them! May their camp become desolate, their tents uninhabited! For they harass the one whom You discipline; they spread the news about the suffering of those whom You punish. Hold them accountable for all their sins! Do not vindicate them! May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! Do not let their names be listed with the godly! I am oppressed and suffering! O God, deliver and protect me! I will sing praises to God’s name! I will magnify Him as I give Him thanks! That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hooves. The oppressed look on – let them rejoice! You who seek God, may you be encouraged! For the Lord listens to the needy; He does not despise His captive people. Let the heavens and the earth praise Him, along with the seas and everything that swims in them! For God will deliver Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, and His people will again live in them and possess Zion. The descendants of His servants will inherit it, and those who are loyal to Him will live in it.)  (May this world’s blindness soon be overcome with Light.)

    Even John the Baptist had doubts. When in prison for having told Herod that he was living in adultery, his followers informed him about Jesus’ miracles.

    (Luke 7:18-20; So John called two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus, asking, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another?” When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another?’” At that very time Jesus cured many people of diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits and granted sight to many who were blind. So Jesus answered them, “Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them. Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at Me.)

    Meditate on these things prove that Jesus is our coming Messiah and King of Kings. Jesus inspired Isaiah to pen words of hope, to erase doubts. Are we doubtful as was the Baptist? Let’s review Jesus’ prophecy through Isaiah.

    (Isaiah 29:17-24; In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest. At that time the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel. For tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated; those who bear false testimony against a person, who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. So this is what the Lord, the One who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob.

   Israel will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.” For when they see their children, whom I will produce among them, they will honor My name. They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; they will respect the God of Israel. Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight.)

    Jesus personal miracles & through His apostles are forerunners to His powers that’ll be gifted when He returns. (Spiritual comprehension as God reveals individually should be the goal we each seek.) Our coming King of Kings is the God of Abraham, the God of Israel and the One who delivered them from Egypt “sin.” Jesus understands the likelihood of embarrassment by living His Way in our communities, our need to count the cost, ‘of following Him. We should realize; this world’s citizenry isn’t our friends, as they were not Jesus’ friends. Following Jesus can be a lonely road, from a fleshly point of view. (In the world but not of the world makes followers of Jesus like Him characteristically, and in the friendship category. (See John 15:18)

   When God the Father and God the Son were creating; they were also planning Jesus’ crucifixion and ascension.

    (Luke 18:31-34; Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles; He will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on. They will flog Him severely and kill Him. Yet on the third day He will rise again.” But the twelve understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what Jesus meant.)

    Spiritual truths are still hidden from the world at large. Why? Let’s review why Jesus spoke in parables.

    (Matt 13:10-15; For, this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand you will look closely yet will never comprehend. For the heart of this people has become dull; they are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.)

   People choose denominations, rather than individually seeking God’s truth, is proof of their hardness of heart and closed eyes. Jesus’ words, as He inspired Isaiah to pen and quoted in this Matthew text has been true in each age, ‘but a new age is coming.’ Jesus had His prophet Zachariah prophesy about the events of His first and second comings.

    (Zach 9:9; Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you: He is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey – on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.) This part of Zachariah’s prophecy has been fulfilled, the next part is soon to be. (Zach 9:10; I will remove the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be removed. Then He will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.) Compare with Isaiah 29:17-24.

    (Mark 11:1-11; Now as they approached Jerusalem, near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here soon.’ So they went and found a colt tied at a door, outside in the street and untied it. Some people standing there said to them, “What are you doing untying that colt?” They replied as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on it, and Jesus sat on it.

    Many spread their cloaks on the road and others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Both those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest! Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, He went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.)

   Passover was approaching and time for another parable that only Believers would understand.

   (Mark 12:1-12; Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. At harvest time He sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them His portion of the crop. But those tenants seized His slave, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. So He sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously. He sent another and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed.

    He had one left, His one dear Son. Finally He sent Him to them, saying, ‘They will respect My Son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir, let’s kill Him and the inheritance will be ours!’ So they seized Him, killed Him, and threw His body out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

    Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Now, they wanted to arrest Him (but they feared the crowd) because they realized that He told this parable against them. So they left Him and went away.)

    Jesus was referencing what He had inspired at Psalms 118:22-23. So it is; from creation until now, the Cornerstone has been rejected by people thinking highly of their own opinion, people unwilling to seek God’s view, (prefer their view.) But God so loved the world that He gave His Son, our all knowing God planned it from the beginning.

    (1John 3:1; See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children, and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.)

    Religious minded folk attempt to know God through personal intellect. God says; “He cannot allow that, less people boast.”

    (Eph 2:4-10; But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ; by grace you are saved! and He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. For, we are His workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.)

    Is this clear? Give God the praise. It’s spiritual discernment not gained through fleshly intellect, but gifted by God. It’s the mystery not revealed to the world.

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   What defines God’s church, those who’re being made temples of His Spirit? Most using Jesus’ name teach; ‘His church is founded on His prophets, apostles and Himself the Cornerstone.’ So what binds making each believer ‘One, with each other and God?’ One SPIRIT BINDS Jesus, and called believers imputing His spirit to the mind, ‘defining God’s church.’ No mix of old pagan traditions or Pharisee type denominations.

    Heavenly Father: please give each reader a desire to search Your Word and prove Your Way. Give each Your gift of repentance, we ask in Jesus’ holy name. AMEN

   What initiates the human desire to prove or disprove God? God’s calling, giving the desire and effort. (See Phil 2:1) The Corinth Church sent Paul and Silas to Berea to proclaim Jesus’ truth. Seemingly; all they had was the prophetic writings, their personal relationships with Jesus. Old Testament scripture was available to proclaim from prophecy, and perhaps the four gospel accounts were available. Let’s examine the workings of spiritually opening of minds.  

   (2Corinthaians 4:3-4; These ‘Berea’ Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.) (See Acts 17:10-15)

    Followers of Jesus realize the things God allows Satan to do in this age will ultimately serve His purposes. Deceptive Satan’s intended harm will ultimately serve God’s purpose in people’s worship in spirit and truth. God’s Way is unchanging and forever, while Satan’s is but for a short time. (So, how and why are people blinded spiritually in this age?)

   Jesus’ apostle Paul taught; “the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.” (See 2Corinthians 4:3-4)

    Satan is only allowed to spiritually blind those who aren’t gifted with a Godly desire to know Him and His truth as manifest in Holy Scriptures! (Jesus’ apostle John explained; “the one who hates his fellow Christian is in darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.) (See 1John 2:11)

    The word ‘hate’ in this context, means, ‘to love less by comparison.’ The Holy Spirit leads Christians to, ‘spiritually love one another as themselves.’ Unbelievers don’t love as Jesus instructed, ‘so are in spiritual darkness.’ God wills spiritual darkness for a time. His TRUTH is; ‘spiritually understood and gifted to His chosen.’ So, what’s the darkness that blinds? The many confusing doctrines Satan has led the world to accept. (See Luke 21:24)

    From his beginning, Satan inspired people groups to make gods from their imagination, defined paganism was born. Jesus’ apostle John was led to quote Isaiah, ‘whom Jesus had inspired to write long before.’

    (John 12:40; He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to Me, and I would heal them.) (Quote from Isaiah 6:10)

    We’re in the advanced age of spiritual blindness, and God is allowing unbelievers to be spiritually blinded until a time He chooses; ‘to open minds, to the good news, (gospel). That age is on the horizon. Jesus inspired Isaiah to tell it.

    (Isaiah 29:18-19; At that time the deaf will be able to hear (understand) words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through (previously hidden) deep darkness. The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel.)

    The Holy One of Israel, (The Lord God Jesus) spent three and one half years with His apostles and didn’t allow them to spiritually understand the scriptures until shortly before His ascension.

    (Luke 18:31-34; Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles; He will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on. They will flog Him severely and kill Him. Yet on the third day He will rise again.” (But the twelve understood none of these things.) (This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what Jesus meant.)

     After Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost, the apostle’s minds were spiritually opened to understand these things and their relationship to prophecy.

    Zechariah 9:9-10, tells of Jesus’ return to Jerusalem a few days before Passover. (See Mark 11:1-9, to read of that conclusion.)

    Jesus’ apostles had been keeping the Passover all their lives without knowing its significance in relationship to Jesus. (Jesus is our Passover, the One through whom is life.) Denominations are still blinded about the significance of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Remember; Satan’s purpose is to mislead, deceive and divide.) He leads people to make substitutes, to the spiritual significance of God’s set aside times.

    (John 13:1-5; Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that His time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now loved them to the very end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus. Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, He got up from the meal, removed His outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around Himself. He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel He had wrapped around Himself.)

    Jesus’ new Passover tradition demonstrates God’s love for His chosen. Just as blood over the Israelites’ doors in Egypt, preserved lives of their first-born’s, Jesus’ shed blood before this Passover’s end, was to redeem this world’s spiritually first-borns to Himself. Through our being spiritually led to believe IN Jesus’ shed blood for remission of our sins, and be saved to eternal life.

     On that Passover evening, after Jesus prayed ‘if possible let this cup pass from Me.’ Jesus was arrested by the chief priest and officers of the temple guard. They came with swords and clubs as if arresting an outlaw. Jesus said to them, ‘Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts, you did not arrest Me, ‘but this is your hour and that of the power of darkness!’ Luke 22:52-53)

   Darkness is Satan’s doing, God permitted from the foundation of the world. Darkness is to this age’s end, known from the beginning, including the darkness associated with our inheriting Adam’s self serving nature.

    (Matthew 6:22-24; The eye is the lamp (understanding) of the body. If then your eye (understanding) is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye (understanding) is diseased, (sick) your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money (mammon.) MEANING; “misused wealth influences evil.” (ALL unbelievers are characterized & defined here.)

     Jesus understands why people are unbelievers, so He prayed; (Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.) Luke 23:34)

    God called David, revealed Himself, made him a great king and prophet, revealed His suffering allowing David feel His pain, even during crucifixion.

   Consider Psalms 22;1-30; My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me? I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. My God, I cry out during the day, but you do not answer, and during the night My prayers do not let up. You are holy; You sit as king receiving the praises of Israel. In You our ancestors trusted; they trusted in You and You rescued them. To You they cried out, and they were saved; in You they trusted and they were not disappointed.

   But I am a worm, not a man; people insult Me and despise Me. All who see Me taunt Me; they mock me and shake their heads. They say, ‘Commit Yourself to the Lord! Let the Lord rescue Him! Let the Lord deliver Him, for He delights in Him.’

    Yes, You are the One who brought Me out from the womb and made Me feel secure on My mother’s breasts. I have been dependent on You since birth; from the time I came out of My mother’s womb You have been My God. Do not remain far away from Me, for trouble is near and I have no one to help Me. Many bulls surround Me; powerful bulls of Bashan hem Me in. They open their mouths to devour Me like a roaring lion that rips its prey.

    My strength drains away like water; all My bones are dislocated; My heart is like wax; it melts away inside Me. The roof of My mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery; My tongue sticks to My gums. You set Me in the dust of death. Yes, wild dogs surround Me – a gang of evil men crowd around Me; like a lion they pin My hands and feet. I can count all My bones; My enemies are gloating over Me in triumph. They are dividing up My clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for My garments. But You, O Lord, do not remain far away! You are My source of strength! Hurry and help Me! Deliver Me from the sword! Save My life from the claws of the wild dogs! Rescue Me from the mouth of the lion, and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me! I will declare Your name to My countrymen! In the middle of the assembly I will praise You!

    You loyal followers of the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, (Abraham Israel) honor Him! All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of Him! For He did not despise or detest the suffering of the oppressed; He did not ignore Him; when He cried out to Him, He responded. You are the reason I offer praise in the great assembly; I will fulfill My promises before the Lord’s loyal followers. Let the oppressed eat and be filled! Let those who seek His help praise the Lord! May you live forever! Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to Him! Let all the nations worship You! For the Lord is king and rules over the nations. All of the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship; all those who are descending into the grave will bow before Him, including those who cannot preserve their lives. A whole generation will serve Him.)

     Jesus’ rule is on the horizon, are we spiritually led to believe IN Jesus as did David? Now read Psalms 23: We intend to share it next time.

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   When Jesus comes back He’ll bring peace to this earth, but in this age His message is intended to divide, it isn’t revealed to all, and gifted to a few called. (See Matt 13:10-17 about why Jesus spoke in parables.)

   (Matt 10:34-39; Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.) Always study the whole.

    Denominational minded folks in their religious comfort zones don’t seek truth or explore because of tradition, family and what’s popular. It takes courage to even read about what God considers sin, but allow Paul’s letter to the Ephesians @ 5:1-14; to wrap His truths.

    (Eph 5:1-14; Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, or greed, as these are not fitting for the Saints. Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving.

    For you can be confident of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light – for the fruit of The Light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth – trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

    Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, rather expose them. For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention. But all things being exposed by the Light are made evident. For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: “Awake, O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!)

We people are Like Sheep

Few in these so called modern times, know the characteristics of sheep from experience. Few domestic animals need the degree of constant care and protection as do sheep. God sees His people as sheep, in need of a Shepherd’s care. Without revelation guidance and Jesus’ lead, “people drift to what seems right based on parental guidance, education and experience.” All of which is works of the flesh. (Godly upright parents have something to boast about but only in the Lord.) Godly schooling and learning experience is something to be proud of, ‘only in the Lord.’) Spiritual understanding must be gifted as it was to Jesus’ apostles. The reason Holy Scripture, ‘likens people to sheep in need of a Shepherd’ was revealed long before Jesus’ fleshy life, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, He revealed the following to His Isaiah.’

   (Isa 53:6; All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord, caused the sin of all of us to attack Him.) Through Isaiah, Jesus revealed, His own suffering, ‘why and how He, ‘like a sacrificial lamb’ would be sacrificed.) Study the whole chapter.

    God the Father and Jesus chose that He’d bare the sins of the world, save the world, bind Satan and bring peace. Few sheep are being led, in this, ‘prior millennial age’ to follow this Shepherd‘s lead, because Satan is allowed to influences the majority to go the way that seems right to their inherited from Adam nature. Through Peter, Jesus instructs His sheep, ‘His called Believers’, on how to clothe themselves in Him.

    (1Peter 5:5-11; In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, CLOTHE yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under His mighty hand by casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you.

   Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering. And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him belongs the power forever. Amen.)

    God calls, restores, confirms, strengthens and establishes those to whom He reveals Himself. No believer can boast of spiritual understanding!

     After understanding is miraculously given, ‘individually’ we’re to do the work of overcoming, ‘CLOTHING’ ourselves with the Ways of God.’ This practicing truth defines THE WAY. However people need coaching about, ‘counting the cost.’

    (Luke 14:28) Jesus warned; and you, will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.)

    (Matt 10:22; But the person who endures to the end will be saved.) So, what gospel (what good news) should we teach?

    (Matt 24:13-14; And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.)

    7 times to the 7 churches Jesus said, ‘the one who conquers, (overcomes) I will permit him to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. (See Rev 2: & 3, and John 17:6-19; to study Jesus’ prayer to His Father, for His apostles and Elect. (Now discover Jesus’ authority)

    (Luke 7:1-10; A military commander had a highly regarded servant who was sick to the point of death. When he heard of Jesus’ presence he sent soldiers asking Jesus to heal his servant. When Jesus was still a great distant away the commander sent friends to say to Jesus; “I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. That’s why I didn’t presume to come to You.” Say the word and my servant must be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘go’ and he goes, and to another, ‘come’ and he comes and to my slave, ‘do this’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, He was amazed; turning to the crowd that followed He said; “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!” So when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.”)

    Few people are gifted to know the controlling power of our Creator ’Jesus’ as did this commander; ‘his faith was gifted from above.’ Gifted to know who Jesus was. Today few know who Jesus is!

    (Luke 7:11-15; Soon afterward Jesus went to a town called Nain, His disciples and a large crowd went with Him. As He approached the town gate, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother (who was a widow), and a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came up and touched the bier, and those who carried it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” So the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they began to glorify God, saying, “A great prophet has appeared among us!” and “God has come to help His people!” This report about Jesus circulated throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.)

    Jesus’ gave physical life back to this dead son and restoring his health, is evidence that He’s the Son of God, Creator, Sustainer, Shepherd and coming King of Kings, in whom God our Father delights.

    Some professing Christians say they believe these miracles occurred. But few are LED to believe IN and LOVE the Son of God as He’s manifested to be in the Holy Scriptures. When people are led to believe IN Jesus, “the focused belief purifies as He is pure.” Jesus’ apostle John explains to Believers IN.

    (1John 3:1-3; See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope focused on Him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure) Believers must be about the business of teaching this ‘gospel’ of the kingdom of God, Jesus’ return, resurrection, and our being changed to His likeness. This must be our focus, message and our life example to the world. Realize particularly that the worldly religious are offended by Jesus’ message and Ways. If these things aren’t clear, we need to study, meditate and pray for revelation.