Yippee Pt. 2

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21

The promises and the hopes keep getting better and better; if we “overcome”, we are told that we will be allowed to sit with the Messiah/Jesus, on His heavenly throne. Wow! I’m scratching my head and trying to figure out, just why He would love me so much that He would allow me such an honor – to sit on His throne. When someone speaks of a throne, he/she is referring to royalty; only royalty sits on thrones – not peons like me. 

However, to get to that part, one must “overcome”. Overcome what? We are to overcome our sinful, selfish natures. We are to become like Christ, in that, as we open our hearts to Him, He will show us a better way to live and will put within us virtues worthy of heavenly company.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…” Galatians 5:21-23

As a matter of fact, the most rehearsed sermon or message given by Jesus, points out to those who are willing to be saved, the kind of things He is willing to perform, on our behalf. The message is called, “The Beatitudes.”

“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:1-12

The word “blessed” is best translated as happy. Jesus is seeking to brighten the heart and hopes of those who appear to be the most cast out. He is seeking to show them how to overcome by attributing these attitudes. To do so, would be to adopt the “mind of Christ”. Philippians 2:5  Hence, we become “overcomers”.

Here are the last two items mentioned in the opening scripture:

1.     Jesus overcame the world and was victorious over it. Matthew 4:1-10; Hebrews 4:15; John 8:48

2.     Jesus sat down next to the Father, after he was resurrected – Hebrews 1:1-3

All of this is Yippee, indeed.

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Yippee!

We left off the last post with Jesus, metaphorically, knocking at the door of your heart seeking entry. The latch to the door is on the inside, therefore, it is you, who must consent to release the latch and allow Jesus to enter.

The awesome promise Jesus offers is this: 

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:20-21

Therefore, if we will open our hearts or minds to the idea that the Creator of the universe wants to dwell/ live with/ be with/ embrace us, then we will gladly release the latch. Consequently, let us explore what this truly means.

1. What does it mean to “hear His voice?” “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 - This means generally, that in order for someone to believe, in this Savior called Jesus, that someone must first “hear” about Him. Jesus can be introduced to the sinner (un-saved/transgressor) via a sermon, a phone call, a godly life, or even a blog post. The methodology is not that import; it’s the results that matter.

2. “To open the door:” means that your mind must be open to hearing and investigating new ideas, new concepts that you may not have ever heard of before. There must be on your part, a willingness to entertain the idea of Jesus as Savior and Lord, in your life.

3. “I will come in and sup with you.” It has often been said that the best way to get to know someone is to eat a meal together. Going out to lunch or dinner is one of the first things a man will ask a woman to do, in an effort to get to know her.

4. What is the meal that you’ll be sharing? Answer – The Word of God! Jesus declared Himself to be the “bread of life”. John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, “I am the Bread of Life. He that cometh to me (Jesus) shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me (Jesus) shall never thirst.” To get to know Jesus is an opportunity to fill your life with blessings and positivity; along with finding the answers to some of life’s greatest challenges.

a. In this same chapter of John 6, we read in John 6:51, the following: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 

b. In this verse, Jesus is using “sanctuary language”. In the sanctuary was 12 loaves of bread, which when replaced weekly, was only to be eaten by the priest. This bread represented the coming Messiah, which was the Word of God. John 1:1-3, 14

c. Additionally, this same bread, which became the word; or this Word that became bread, is the same Messiah that willingly hung upon a cross at Calvary, dying for the sins of the world. John 3:16-17 – The purpose for the Messiah’s coming was to save mankind from eternal death.

d. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” II Corinthians 5:21 – Jesus willingly took the place of every sinner, who will, by faith accept Him as their Savior. 

To be continued…

Study Link: http://bit.ly/2k7LVQN

Surprise!

I personally think that most people like surprises. However, I have heard a few people, like Oprah Winfrey state that they do not like surprises. I am inclined to believe that what she is really saying is, “I don’t like surprises that might turn out to inconvenient, disappointing or costly”, but if the surprise was good, I mean really good; something she had been hoping for or dreaming about – she would like it.

However, the surprise to which I am referring, is not a good surprise, if you have not accepted Jesus as your savior, and not been baptized into a Christian congregation - for this surprise is the second coming of Christ!

So, how did we get there? I promised in this post that I would speak directly to persons who were not yet Christians. The reason for this is so that they can make an intelligent decision, as to whether they wish to live a Christian life, in love with Christ and with full anticipation of His coming; or whether they wanted to continue doing their own thing.

“…Fear God and keep His commandments, for the HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME!” Revelation 14:6

This judgment is a “pre-advent judgment”, which involves God’s decision making process regarding, whether or not, those who have once made a decision to walk with Him, in the Christian experience, will be saved or lost; because contrary to the beliefs of many, even though you once decided to follow Christ, does not mean that you will always follow Him. It is a daily decision to keep following Him, on a regular basis. Luke 9:23

And whereas we talked about judgment beginning at the house of God (I Peter 4:17), those who do not make a conscious decision to follow Him, will make an unconscious decision to fight against Him. In doing that, you will declare yourself an enemy of God and the declaration from heaven will be as follows:

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which [that] is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is -righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.  Revelation 22:11-12 KJV Translation

Jesus has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). He desires to save every man, woman and child. However, He cannot do that without your consent. Here is what John, the Revelator, says about Jesus’ approach to humankind.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20 KJV Translation

John is here describing the heart of the sinner; the door is a metaphor for your heart and the latch is on the inside. If you’ll take off the latch and open the door, Jesus will enter your heart and bring you the blessings of heaven, coupled with salvation.

Keep reading – I will finish the beauty of this experience in the next post. Until then, I urge you to give it serious thought. Bye

Study Link: http://bit.ly/2k7LVQN