JustJeff

Because Jesus walked as a man and suffered the same infirmities as we He is sympathetic to our weaknesses, not some aloof, puffed up God. The Lord is one who chose a path that welcomes us as joint heirs with Him, brothers and sisters. In this manner we can bring our petitions to Him in confidence and boldness. As we come to Him in need He will have mercy and grace in abundance to give to us. These are the promises in Heb 4:16. God is no respecter of persons. He is merciful and full of grace when we repent of our sins. Yet, He will punish us lovingly for our transgressions when we continue in our sins, in order to bring us back to His grace.

Incarnated, the Lord was just as we, able to experience all that we do, good and bad, as flesh and blood. These same qualities would have allowed Jesus to possess the same desires, or lusts of the flesh as we. His was tempted in all ways, just like you and me. Our savior did not sin not because He suffered less than we (how many of us could walk in the Negev desert for 40 days and nights without food and water AND resist the devil?). He resisted sin because He is all power and stronger than we. Again, His temptations would have been just as ours are and it is comforting to know that Jesus can be our Mediator to the Father with full knowledge of our infirmities, since He Himself suffered them. In other words, the Lord has been there and done that and pleads our cause with the compassion of experience.

In holding fast to our confession our lives are based upon the Rock, our firm foundation. It is the basis for which we live and our constant in living, ref; Matt 7:24-25. Our confession is that Jesus is Lord and in no other name upon heaven and earth is there salvation. Why is maintaining this confession so vital? See Matthew 7:26-27. It is essential to our confession to live and breath the Word. Jesus is the Word and if we do not know the Word then we lose our confession.

The word of God is the foundation and instrument of our faith. By it and it's application to our lives our innermost being is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. God already sees what we need to work on and work out, the word is the dynamic to make it all happen. The convicting power of the word is essential to repentance and should humble us, strengthen us, hold us firm in the faith and make us steadfast against the evil. Without the word 24/7/365 our understanding is unfruitful, our faith weak, growth stunted and the chance to backslide great. It is essential then that we "expose" ourselves fervently to the word as often as we can, daily.

Personally, the rest that I can relate to in Heb 4:8-11 is that which we enter into when we walk in the Spirit. When I am in the flesh everything around me seems burdensome. From the temptations that come from the **** of the flesh to the turbulent and wicked world in which we live, heavy loads indeed. The Holy Spirit keeps me in tune with the Lord, with Him, who is the heavy load lifter and the burden bearer, a sweet peace and rest to my soul at all times. Who wouldn't want to work their hardest to enter into such a rest? Being a Christian does not exempt us from sin, it makes us aware of it when we do sin, by the conviction of the soul. In this manner we can repent and continue on with the Lord. Apostasy is to turn away from God, returning to our sinful lifestyles, dead to Him. How dreadful.

How important is faith in our relationship to Christ? Without faith we do not have a relationship with Christ. Sins tricks us by catering to the lusts of our flesh. The pleasure of the moment convinces us that it is good and therefore, it cannot be evil. As we continue in sin we become dependent upon the pleasure and our hearts become hardened even to the point of turning against God for denying us of our pleasures. Fellowship with Christians keeps us focused on things above, not on the earthly and, when we seem to go astray, our fellows can admonish us and help us to get back on track.

To let go of the Lord is akin to hanging on the edge of a cliff and giving up before help arrives. The fall is great and the result is most certainly, death. If you are truly a Christian you have no recourse but to continue in the faith. To lose one's faith is to return to the past, and in the past there is the bondage of sin, the idols of Egypt and, the wrath of God.

By becoming human Jesus proved that we could walk in this world and lead a sinless life. The Lord was able to experience all of the weakness that we are subject to thereby becoming a High Priest, fully able to intercede on our behalf before the Father with all of the compassion and understanding needed to emphatically plead our causes. Knowing that the Savior suffered in His flesh, above and beyond what we will ever know, gives me the strength and courage to press on. He has fought the battle and handed me the victory. There is nothing too big that our God can't handle. His human walk is my example.

Jesus suffered and died to deliver us from death, not bodily death as we all will die but, spiritual death from sin. To that end, by His precious shed blood we have been set free from the death of sin and no longer do we have to live therein. For those of us who will endure 'til the end we will be made perfect. When the final judgement is rendered and old slewfoot is tossed into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone those who claimed the victory at Calvary will go on to be with the Lord for evermore. Today, because of Our Savior's suffering we are no longer slaves to sin and the devil. He has set us free. PRAISE HIM!

The Father glorified the Son in His passion and as the First Born of the Dead, the Son glorifies us in Him. Jesus Christ was made perfect when He became a man and suffered, with no loss, the trials of man, that is, the weaknesses of the flesh. By not surrendering to sin in any way He became complete in spirit and in flesh. Perfect. As our perfect example the implication is clear. We are to be as He was and to walk as He did. We cannot lead sinful lives. We must walk worthy of our calling.

By being our final sacrifice for sin Christ died for us all in that we were (or are) dead in our sins. Had not the Father extended His grace to us the Son would not have made the sacrifice. Since Our Lord and Savior paid such a great price for my redemption the very least that I could do is die to sin and self and allow Him to have dominion over my life, in every aspect.

During His life time Our Lord suffered from the verbal abuse and threats made by those whom He intended His message to be received by. And, in His passion, He suffered extreme physical pain, mental anguish. The final blow would have been that moment of rejection by His Father, when He turned His back on the Lord as Jesus took upon Himself the sin of the whole world then and now. Suffering in the US seems limited to rejection of the true doctrine of the Word, turning to idolatry and away from God and, increasing wickedness. Christians, by the Holy Spirit, will suffer in their hearts in witness to this denial of Our Lord and God. In other lands, such as China and the Sudan, Christians do suffer great physical and mental pain at the hands of heretics who rule over them. Suffering is necessary in order for us to be refined, made pure. The more we suffer, the more that we can relate to Jesus, the more we become like Him. To avoid suffering is not only cowardly but, harmful to our spiritual growth. Those who do not suffer are stunted Christians at best.

As to what I was, compared to who I am, is all that I need to know about the truth of salvation. Signs and wonders are helping to establish the Lord's ministry today, for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. For me, the book of the Acts of the Apostles is the basis of my opinion about the value of signs and wonders in bringing people to the Lord. They, simple men, were able to let the Holy Spirit work through them and bring great multitudes to the Lord. These signs and wonders are very much in evidence in Africa, India, Korea, Latin America, even China and other parts of the world. Here at home in the USA we see them though at this time they are somewhat restrained. Revival is on the way, praise the LORD!

As I see it, most of us have head knowledge. The word goes into our heads, but not our hearts and is not incorporated into our character. As a result, the Holy Spirit cannot effect change in our lives and we revert to who we were before we heard the word. Paying attention means grasping what is being heard or read. This we must do, giving reverence to the Holy Scriptures and, consider their value as the most precious of things of all the earth. Then will the seed be sown to good ground (in our hearts) and not by the wayside, stony ground or amongst thorns, never to take root (in our heads).

As "appointed heir to all things", and "the brightness of His glory", as well as "the express image of His person", the author indicates that the Son is the fullness of the Godhead bodily and is devine. By verses one and two of the first chapter of Hebrews we learn that the father uses the Son to create and maintain the worlds (this one, the universe and the new one to come). Being treated as an heir to all things it appears that the Son is given all power and authority over everything that exists and has earned this by His passion. This is clear by His seat at the right hand of the Father, an open example by God of the trust He has in His Son.

I see the author of Hebrews using the word "Son" quite literally to stress the reality of Jesus' true relationship to the Father as well as Jesus, the Son of Man that is, His humanity. As the "biological" Son the Lord was raised up by the Father before time began and is the right hand of God. As a trusted and beloved son, He would have far more credibilty than a prophet as He is the reflection of God Himself.

In Matthew 24 the Lord commands us to be watchful as we will know by the sign of the times that our resurrection is at hand. Since 1,000 years is as a day to the Lord it is difficult to pin point just how widespread and difficult things must become before this occurs. Over the years since the Lord ascended there have been many false prophecies concerning the end times and the rapture. It would seem that the boy who cried wolf syndrome is applicable here. Too many false alarms have led to apathy and the loss of expectancy. In 2 Peter 3:1-18 our dear Brother antcipated just such a reaction. It would seem to me that we need to teach longsuffering, or patience as you will, instead of a knee jerk reaction to hard times. Man has always lived in hardship and difficulty and will continue to do so. It will be God who determines the time of the return, of which He will reveal to no one, not even His Son. We must simply watch, and allow the Holy Spirit to keep us prepared, living a life pleasing to God. We will all feel when the time is at hand. It could be tomorrow.

We do know that we will be like Him when we are resurrected. What we do know is that the Lord had the ability to change His appearance, eat food, appear supernaturally, walk about with a deadly wound in His side and holes from nails in His hands and feet, with no pain. He was flesh and bone and conversed normally yet, at His ascension, His body rose into the air and disappeared. To this end we will be like Him that we know. What we do not know is what it is to be a supernatural being, a spirtual being as is God and the angels. What does it feel like? How does one feel, emotionally, physically? How does the thought process differ? How truly precious is it to be in constant and continual fellowship with the Lord? To be always in His presence? God made Adam in His own image, as we. It is in a body that God communed with Adam, as His friend. It would seem that the Father desires this appearence of us and that is good enough for me. In that vain, as Adam walked in the Garden of Eden, so too will we walk in the new earth.

Redemption of our bodies will finally come when we die and rise again in an incorruptable new body, which will be as the Lord's when He arose. It means that we will not be disembodied spirits floating about but, will have flesh and blood new bodies that will not deterioate over time, being eternal. The words that bare witness to this appear in 1 Cor 15:42-44; raised in incorruption, in glory, in power, a spiritual body. Thank you Jesus!

I, for one, am not convinced that we will be awake with the Lord when our bodies die. For one, in the two scriptures given there is no indication as to whether we will be awake or asleep when we go to be with Him. In Rev 6:9-11, it states; "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God (martyrs)..., that they should rest yet for a little season..."(KJV). This indicates to me a passive state that might just be stirred up in eager anticpation of that final judgement day, as God's plan for our eternal communion with Him comes to fruition. Also, in John 14:2-3, I find it hard to believe that the Lord is building a room for me under His altar. I have something a little more spacious in mind. In 1 Thes 4:13-18, Brother Paul takes great pains to ease our burden concerning our lost loved ones who have died in Christ. He specifically says that ..."and that the dead in Christ shall rise first:"(16d). If we are already awake with Him why would we have to rise again? I believe that our soul will rest in endless sleep until that great shofar sounds and brings us all home, together, the dead and the living.

The word in the bible for rapture is resurrection which occurs after the Lord appears in the air. Then, we will all be judged for our behavior in this life and those who make it, will appear with Him in glory.

There are sooooo.. many obstacles on this narrow road that we walk one can become discouraged along the way, even to the point of throwing in the towel and going back into a world of sin. By looking ahead to the glorious hope of our resurrection and spending eternity with our Blessed Savior we have something to hold on to. Comes what may, for this we can be a palm tree in a strong wind, bending but steadfast, constantly under a seemingly never ending assault but, immovable. So, no matter how thankless our work in the Lord may seem to be at times, it is the Lord who is watching and it is in Him that we place our trust. With that we knowledge our labor is of the utmost importantance. It is never in vain.

Jesus promised that as He was so would we be resurrected. As He was bodily resurrected so too will we be. The firstfruits are the best of the first fruits offered to Yahweh each harvest season. Jesus is the best and the first of the resurrected. The firstborn of the dead is again, he who was crucified and died a bodily death and rose again, the first of all of those who believe.

When we are baptized we are putting to death our old selves and when we come up out of the water we are claiming a new life in Christ, being "resurrected". In Ephesians 1:18-20, Paul prays that the eyes of our understanding be enlightened (vs 18a) in order that we can see His power toward us (vs 19) which raised Him from the dead(vs 20b). In other words, the resurrection power extended by the Father to raise the Son is now given to those of us who believe and this through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told us that He is the resurrection and the life. Without His resurrection we would be dead in our sins, with no chance of eternal life with Him. This freedom that we now enjoy is by His life, as the Father has honored the Son and those whom He claims as His sheep. This we confirm by the assurance in our hearts, rendered by the Holy Spirit. If we think that He not has risen what could we sacrifice for forgiveness of our sin? Where could we sacrifice since the temple has been destroyed? As Gentiles, would God accept our sacrifices if we were able? No, we would be very much dead in our sins with no hope of salvation, no doubt about it.