Nothing was created EXCEPT what He created ( John 1:3) and He created ALL THINGS. Let the transcendent glory of that linger at the back of our minds as we listen intently to something Jesus said. I can (John 5:30) do nothing of Myself but only as I am taught. Taught? By Whom?

When the Son of God temporarily laid aside all the attributes of His Deity the Man Jesus fully accepted all the limitations of humanity. We have no difficulty in understanding His Deity but do we truly understand – really get it – His humanity? He learned obedience (Hebrews 5:8) by the things He suffered. Hang in there! Does that mean He was disobedient before? Of course not – but whom does God obey? Like every human He had to learn every new thing, which He had never before experienced. How did suffering teach obedience? No self-protesting retaliation against rejection - scorn – attempted malicious entrapments No self-defence against lies about Himself and devilish verbal abuse. His choice was to always do (John 8:29) the things that pleased His Father. BUT – BUT – that is not possible for a human person. What was His secret? God gave Jesus (John 3:34) the Holy Spirit without measure. Why without measure? Because He was available to God without measure. Grab this astounding truth. Jesus, the sinless Man, could not live the Christian life in His own strength. How many miracles is Jesus do? None! A Man approved unto God (Acts 2:22) by signs and wonders, which GOD DID by Him. Because He was available and ready for whatever God wanted to do or say. His choice – the Holy Spirit’s power.The desire and goal of Jesus now is that the life He lived back then by the power of the Holy Spirit – would be the very life He lives now by the power of the Holy Spirit in you and me. WOW! How could it be possible for someone like me? Because of something Jesus said on the Cross “It is finished”. What was finished? The completed work of atonement for all sin. How do we know for sure that it was totally – fully – absolutely finished? We have to see what was done long before He said that and compare it with what He did after He said it.Pastor Rob Simons – reminds us that there were no chairs in the Holy of Holies. Why not? The priests could not sit down on the job, because the work of preparing sacrificial offerings was never done (Ezekiel 46:18) every morning. The routine must continue daily and the priests stood to do the work every day because (Hebrews 10:2) all the blood of all the animals was powerless to take away sins. The priest stood daily (Hebrews 10:11,12) to make the same offering over and over. These regular offerings were like an I.O.U., which God accepted temporarily until the time of the one and only (John 1:29) Sin-Bearer, the Lamb of God.BUT – Christ our great High Priest offered one Sacrifice once – for all sin – and for all time.THEN – He sat down! Where? In His place of authority at the right hand of God.The only reason (Galatians 5:1) we are able to stand is because Jesus sat down. He finished it forever – He fully satisfied the wrath of God, so that God could forgive and still remain just and holy. He conquered – He triumphed – He is Victor. Death had lost and LIFE had won and death will never reign again. His glorious resurrection is our unshakable assurance. Just at the time Jesus said (John 19:30) IT IS FINISHED – the priest were standing as they prepare the Passover lambs in the Holy place. At the exact moment He yielded up His spirit – the 6 inch thick veil in the temple was torn apart from top to bottom. The Holy of Holies was thrown open and animal sacrifices would never be needed again. Looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) the Author and Finisher of our faith. What does that mean for you and me? Stop looking at any and all distractions and keep our eyes on Jesus. He is the Source of our Faith – He gave us our initial desire and understanding to believe. As we keep our eyes on Him, He will bring our faith to ever-increasing maturity.Dr. A. W. Tozer – Faith is not a once-done act but a continuous gaze of our heart at the Triune God. We can choose to establish our heart’s intention always to gaze forever upon Jesus. When the eyes of our soul looking out meet the gaze of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on earth.Join me is singing a verse from an old hymnSince my eyes were fixed on JesusI’ve lost sight of all besideSo enchanted my spirit’s visionGazing on the Crucified

 

A thought from Pastor Brett McBrideWhen I’m cut – do I bleed Jesus?When I’m squeezed – do I leak Jesus?When I hug or am hugged – does the love of Jesus come through me?I thought this was the end of this meditation, but while I was having breakfast the Lord gave me what follows. And I am in AWE.A couple of lines from an old hymn: “I wonder what He saw in me to suffer such deep agony.Take a couple of minutes stop think about that.Dr. Stanley put it this way.In the past (Ephesians 4:30) our spirits were saved once and forever.In the future our bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:17, Philippians 3:21) will be saved eternally.In the present (1 Thessalonians 3:13, Romans 8:29) our souls are being saved through sanctification (Hebrews 10:14)Actually – what God saw in you and me was Himself. He created us in His own image, and although it is defaced it is not erased. God knew that in the Resurrection His image would be restored to you and me and that He would see in you and me the reflection of Himself. God also knew that it would cost Him terrible, unspeakable anguish for the Atonement. BUT – stunning fact! BUT – God thought it was worth it. Our lives reveal exactly how much we think it is worth.When Moses came down from the mountain (Exodus 34:35) his face still shone with the light of the shekinah glory of God’s Presence. The people saw it but it faded. When Jesus came down from the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:15) His face was still glistening with the shekinah glory. The people saw it and were amazed, but it faded. It was not an outward show, but an internal preparation and equipping for continual obedience to God without question. The light of the shekinah glory of God’s Presence within you and me should not be fading, but increasing more and more so that more and more people would see Jesus because of (Philippians 2:15) our shining.

Listen to these beautiful words the Lord spoke to Israel:

Your people shall be consistently righteous (Isaiah 60:21) the branch of My planting so that I may be glorified. To give them (Isaiah 61:3) a diadem of beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a heavy burden, that they might be called the strong oaks of righteousness - - the planting of the Lord - so that I may be glorified.

Does this just apply to Israel or is there a principle there for us? Consider this: Except a grain of wheat (John 12:24) fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, remains just one grain, always alone, forever lonely, and its shell gets harder and harder. But if it dies it produces a harvest which alters the whole landscape.

Where are you? Where am I? Wherever we are it is where God has planted us for the purpose of a God-glorifying harvest. Unless of course we refuse to obey – be planted – die. I don’t have to tell you that this does not refer to physical death. It means death to personal ambitions and preferences, death to selfish desires, death to everything in me that was never in Jesus.

Oswald Chambers - Turn away for one second out of obedience and darkness and death are at work at once.

Peter tells us (2 Peter 3:18) to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How can we grow in such knowledge? How can we obtain (Romans 11:33) wisdom and knowledge of God? How can we know (Ephesians 3:9) the mystery of His will? How could we grasp (Ephesian3:19) the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge?Dr. David Jeremiah – Your relationship with the Lord Jesus will be pretty much the same as your relationship with His Word.

We have many commands (2 Timothy 2:15) to read and study the Bible daily and to (Colossians 3:16) meditate on it continually. The Bible with no Jesus doesn’t make sense. Jesus with no Bible doesn’t make sense. But the written Word as the background of the Living Word makes glorious sense – the only true sense. If we want to love Jesus more and have deeper intimacy with Him we’ll find Him in the pages of holy Scripture. And the Holy Spirit will be our wonderful loving Teacher.

If you don’t read and study God’s Word daily, why not? I don’t have time, that is not true – I have the same 24 hours everyone else has. You don’t know my schedule and I have to have some time for myself. If my schedule and recreation are more important than obeying God – they have become an idol. Every day I take time to eat nourishing food for the health of my body. Why would I choose to limp around with a malnourished soul? Spiritual growth and fellowship with the holy Trinity is not possible without feasting daily on the eternal Word of the living God.

When the Israelites were observing the Feasts and offerings there were 17 nations in the world. The Jews failed in God’s purpose that they would represent the world and teach the nations. There are many more nations now (193 in the U.N.) and our commission is clear (Matthew 28:18-20) to teach the Gospel to all nations. What about me as an individual? If my heart and mind are not filled with what I continue to learn from Scripture – how can I never be at a loss (Colossians 4:6) to know how I ought to answer anyone who asks a question about the Bible? How could I be ready (1 Peter 3:15) to give an answer to anyone who asks about my assurance of salvation? These are commands and it is very serious to disobey by being unable to give Truth to a questioner.

If I neglect to grow in my knowledge of the Scriptures, where will I turn when I face illness, shock, tragedy, etc. and God is almost a stranger? I know people in that condition who claim to be Christians.

We cannot divide our lives into spiritual and secular –

Bishop Benson – To the Christian, everything is sacred, nothing is secular except SIN.

Let’s choose the better, no, the best way – the Bible our never-changing Authority.

Psalms 119:105 – a lamp to my feet and a light to my path

2 Timothy 3:16 – it is profitable

Hebrews 4:12 - sharper than a 2 edged sword

Mark 13:31 - it will NEVER pass away

John 14:26 - the Holy Spirit is our Teacher

Job 23:12 - treasured more than necessary food

Psalms 119:11 - hid in my heart so that I might not sin against Thee

There are hundreds more in the treasure chest we call the Bible.

The world has nothing to offer that could even come close to comparing with deepening intimacy with Jesus.

Daniel and his 3 friends were 900 miles from home and in the largest city in the world. In Babylon there were 1000 temples to various gods. But these 4 believed and trusted God’s Word which they had learned from the prophet Jeremiah. Babylon changed everything for them, even their names. But for all their trying, Babylon could not transform them to the Babylonian culture. Why not? Daniel 1:8 determined in his heart. In fact – God used them to (Daniel 4:34-35) transform Babylon. How different would it have been if they had not known – trusted – resolved to obey God’s Word? What about us? Are we grounded – growing – trusting – obeying eternal TRUTH or are we missing glorious opportunities?

Psalms 16:11 - In thy Presence is fullness of joy and at Thy right Hand there are pleasures forever more.

Philippians 3:8,10 - The surpassing greatness – the precious sweetness – the privilege of progressively knowing HIM.

Do you know Jesus? Do you love Him? If you wake during the night is your first thought of Him and by faith you reach out for His nail-pierced hand.

For by His hand (Psalms 139:10,24) He leadeth me.

I am concerned by what seems to be a growing trend among sincere

Christians to rebuke, try to remove and even to bind Satan.  Sometimes

in a prayer to Almighty God, a person will break off and speak directly

to Satan or a demon and issue a command related to rebuking, removing

or binding.  This disturbs me because there is no Scriptural basis for

it.  We know that Satan wants worship and he'll take it in any form of

attention he can get -- fear, useless commands of rebuking and/or

binding, preoccupation with him, energy focused on him, etc.

All power and authority is in God.  How can we rebuke, remove or bind

Satan or demons when they may have God's permission to be where they

are?

(Job 1:6-10) Satan went into Heaven to ask permission to attack Job and

God said, "All that he has is in your power."  Even if Job had known

what was going on, it would have accomplished nothing for him to rebuke

Satan.

(Luke 22:31) Satan asked and received permission to sift Peter.

(1 Samuel 16:14) An evil spirit FROM THE LORD troubled Saul.

  (When Saul made a choice to disobey, the Holy Spirit was withdrawn

   and this left a vacuum within him.  When he made a choice not to

   repent an evil spirit moved into that space.)

(1 Kings 22:22) The Lord said to a lying spirit, "you shall entice him and

succeed also; go forth and do it."

(Jude 9) Satan was the highest of all created beings, even above the

archangel Michael.  In a dispute about the body of Moses, this mighty

archangel did not presume to condemn or rebuke Satan but simply said,

"The Lord rebuke you."

Luke 4:1-14) Jesus went into the wilderness temptation filled with the

Holy Spirit and came out in the power of the Holy Spirit.  He was

trusted with the power because He had stood the test.

e.g. Regarding reputation, Satan said, "If You are the Son of God

nobody knows; Your only reputation is as a Carpenter.  Jump off the

temple and God will send angels to gently float You down; the news will

spread like wildfire and Your reputation will be made."  Jesus made

Himself of no reputation.  Of course He had one, everybody does; but He

never worried about it or tried to live up to the opinion of others.

He trusted God in this test and God trusted Him when the mockers said,

"Prove it to us, come down from the Cross and we'll believe You." 

Jesus didn't say, "I'll shown you Who I Am;" -- He died.  Now God has

given Him a Name above every name; every knee will bow to Him and every

tongue confess Who He is.  Jesus trusted God to take care of His

reputation.  But through all the temptations Jesus did not rebuke Satan

or tell him he had no right to be there.

Satan tests us in order to weaken us.

God allows the testing in order to strengthen us.

We are never told to rebuke, remove or bind Satan.  Scripture indicates

that we should respect him.  But we are definitely told to resist him

(James 4:7) -- resist him as Jesus did -- by the Word of God; the

specific Word which fits the particular case.

It has been well said that if Satan and all demons died tonight, we

would probably sin tomorrow.  More and more I'm aware that in my flesh

dwells no good thing.  I can do much damage with no help at all from

Satan.  It must be "not I but Christ."

 (Mark 3:22-27) Beelzebub is probably the second-in-command in Satan's

hierarchy and his goods/treasures are the souls of human beings.

The Lord has said (Isaiah 49:25) "The captives of the mighty shall be

taken away for I will contend with him."  There is only One Who can

bind the strong man and release the souls of men.  Jesus disarmed all

the principalities and powers ranged against us (Colossians 2:15) and

triumphed over them in the Cross.  God set us free from the control of

darkness (Colossians 1:13) and translated us into the Kingdom of His Son.

When the Light of the Gospel floods in and the spirit of error and

deception is exposed, if a person rejects the true Light, his latter

condition is even worse than his first (Matthew 12:44, Luke 11:25).

 

There is a day coming (Revelation 20:1-6) at the end of the Tribulation, just

before Christ ushers in His millennial Kingdom.  God sends a mighty

angel to do what no man could ever do; he comes with a great chain and

at last Satan will be bound.

 

There are some things we cannot understand now and we need to be

careful about trying to pry too deeply into the unknown.  (Deuteronomy 29:29)

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.

When Christ comes to reign there will no longer be mystery but

manifestation.  (Isaiah 11:9) The earth shall be full of the knowledge of

the Lord.  What is the great mystery, what has puzzled everyone

including the most trusting Christians at times?  Isn't it the seeming

silence of God in the face of prevailing wickedness?  Why did God

permit Satan to have his own way and sin?  Why the struggle between

good and evil?  Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous get trodden

underfoot?  There are times when the most earnest Christians are

baffled by questions like these.  This mystery is regarding truth

concerning God Himself which has not been fully revealed.  The

revelation of this mystery is related to the full manifestation of

Divine power, the establishment of Christ's millennium Kingdom.

Then everyone will know (Jeremiah 31:34) the important facts about the Lord.

 

(Colossians 1:13) The Father has delivered us out of the control and dominion

of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His

love.  (1 Peter 3:22) ALL angels, authorities and powers are subservient

to Jesus Christ.  Because of Calvary we have nothing to fear and we do

not pray FOR victory but FROM victory.

So our part is to trust and obey.  To seek God's enabling to be so

trustworthy in tests, trials and temptations that God can trust us.

Our focus must be always Jesus and only Jesus.

 

Worthy is the Lamb to receive all our attention.

 

Frank Buchanan June 6,2020

(What I do thou knowest not now; but

thou shalt know hereafter. John 13:7)

Accepted! From Thy hand, my Lord, I take

This hurting thing, and bear it for Thy sake;

Nor bear it only, but in Thy dear Name,

Thy strength, Thy power to love it, Lord, I claim.

To love it, ‘till from struggles, pain and tears,

The likeness of Thy life in me appears,

To love it till the Cross becomes a Crown

That, one day, at Thy feet I may lay down.

Accepted! From Thy hand, this thing I take,

Lord, make it glorious for Thine own Name's sake!

 

Of course this quality of acceptance is not the product of firm resolve or stiff upper lip. But when we ask God, He lavishes His grace upon us and then the dark trial takes on a kind of radiance.

 

I know that in the rejection that can never be undone, in the sorrow and disappointment of childlessness and in many other bitter woundings, I have experienced the radiance and reality of His Presence far beyond what I thought was possible. I'm praying that in the midst of your fiery furnace, you will experience times of rich joy and deep fellowship which are impossible to any but God's own, precious children.

 

I cannot explain how this can be possible; I only know from experience that it is Sovereignly possible and Sovereignly desired.

......................

 

The above is something I wrote several years ago but more and more I see the truth and privilege of being embraced by God's Sovereign, unfailing love. In the increasingly difficult and painful circumstances we can't understand, we know assuredly that His love, His power have not failed, cannot fail. It is His glorious purpose, which is being worked out -- to restore us to the Divine image. What overwhelming, mind-boggling grace that, before the foundation of the world, we were chosen to become like Jesus. With love & prayers,