Jesus Was—But, 12

~ Consider His Divine Eternal Nature ~

Introduction  ~  Each post in this series looks at an historical event and then follows it up with part of “The Rest of The Story” (as Paul Harvey used to say). 

Jesus Was  ~  Crucified between two criminals.  “And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center [between two criminals]” (John 19:17-18). 

But There Is More To The Story  ~  As a great hymn of the faith says: “I serve a risen Savior… He’s in the world today!”  The Scriptures provide this account: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.  After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.  Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

Important Closing Overview  ~  Jesus Christ is God.  He is eternal.

The Past Factor  ~  Jesus Christ, the Messiah, lived the life we could not live.  He paid the penalty we could not pay.  “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:14-17). 

The Now Factor  ~  Jesus Christ is now sitting beside God, His Father, working on our behalf: “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?  It is God who justifies.  Who is he who condemns?  It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:31-36).

The Future Factor  ~  “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep [physically dead].  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website.  

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Myth, 33

~ Christians Should Never Offend ~

The Myth  ~  A spiritual Christian would never say anything that might offend someone or hurt their feelings.  Closely related to this is the misuse of the Scripture “judge not” by taking it out of context and giving it a universal application. 

Scripture  ~  “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Proverbs 27:6 niv).  

“Speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). 

“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-3).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Fear God, 158

~ Jonah Feared God ~

God does not want His children living in fear.  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3).  However, God does want His children to have a proper respect and reverence for Him.  We are told in many places in Scripture to “fear God.”  

This Week’s Passage  ~  “So the captain came to him, and said to him, ‘What do you mean, sleeper?  Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.’  And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.’  So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.  Then they said to him, ‘Please tell us!  For whose cause is this trouble upon us?  What is your occupation?  And where do you come from?  What is your country?  And of what people are you?’  So he said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land’” (Jonah 1:6-9). 

Fearing God Results in Salvation  ~  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).  “A wise person fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident” (Proverbs 14:16).  This does not mean the Christian is to live a fearful life—but a life which reverences God and seeks to do His will. 

Fearing God Results in Fearlessness  ~  “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).  The answer is: only God.  With the gift of salvation comes responsibility.

Fearing God Results in Witnessing  ~  “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Psalm 119, 7of27

~ Read God’s Word To Pray Effectively ~

119:145 I cry out with my whole heart;

Hear me, O Lord!

I will keep Your statutes.

119:170 Let my supplication come before You;

Deliver me according to Your word.

119:173 Let Your hand become my help,

For I have chosen Your precepts.

Comment  ~  Read and become familiar with God’s Word.  If you listen to God—He will listen to you.  Ignore God and He will ignore your prayers.  Honor God and He will honor you. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

The Law: Questions, 8of25

~ Did God Give The Israelites The Sabbath? ~

Scripture  ~  “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.  And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).

Comments  ~  Even the almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, God rested on the seventh day of creation.  Jesus taught His disciples to take times of rest and refreshing.  “Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves” (Mark 6:30-32).  Today most Christians celebrate and rest on the first day of the week—the day their Lord rose from the dead and death was defeated!

Reference  ~  You may be interested in a previous “Abundant Life Now” 14 post series entitled “10 Commandments Today” (from March 1 to June 28, 2018).  “Abundant Life Now” also posted a 12 post series entitled “Law vs. Grace” (from January 22 to December 24, 2013).  The Key Passage in this series is: “Do not think that I [Jesus Christ] came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Psalm 119, 6of27

~ Read God’s Word To Be At Peace And Free From Stress ~

119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction,

For Your word has given me life.

119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield;

I hope in Your word.

119:165 Great peace have those who love Your law,

And nothing causes them to stumble.

Comment  ~  The more we read and meditate on the Bible the more peace we will have.  Everyone faces difficult situations at some point(s) in their life.  How we react to these events will effect our stress level.  The only way to ongoing freedom from stress, regardless of circumstances, is to know God and His Word. 

“You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

Trust in the Lord forever,

For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:3-4).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .