Binary, 1

 ~ True or False ~

 

Scripture  ~  Jesus said, “‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know.’  Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’  Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:1-6).

 

The Only Way  ~  Jesus did not say “I am a way.”  He said, “I am the way… No one come to the Father [God] except through Me.” 

 

The Absolute Truth  ~  Jesus did not say “ am… a source of truth.”  He said “I am… the truth…  No one come to the Father [God] except through Me.”

 

The Source of Life  ~  Jesus did not say “I am one source of life.”  He said “I am… the life.  No one comes to the Father [God] except through Me.”  This statement is profound in at least three major ways.  

First, Jesus is the source of life by way of being the Creator of all life.  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:15-16).  

 

Second, Jesus is the Sustainer of all life.  “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:17-18). 

 

Third, Jesus is the Source of spiritual life.  “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’  Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’  Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit’” (John 3:3-8).

 

Reality  ~  It is a choice between the True or False. 

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

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Sabbath, 3of9

 ~ No Work Was To Be Done On The Sabbath ~ 

Introduction  ~  In the Old Testament the Sabbath was established as part of The Law.  The Sabbath is observed from sundown Friday evening through sundown Saturday evening.  In the New Testament the law of God is written on believers’ hearts (Romans 2:12-16) rather than on tablets of stone.  It is the heart’s attitude which now supersedes outward obedience (Romans 10:10).   

 

Following Christ’s resurrection, which occurred on the first day of the week, the Disciples and later the Church have observed their day of rest on Sunday in remembrance of Christ’s resurrection (Acts 20:7). 

 

Passages  ~  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  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 cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).

 

“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation.  You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings” (Leviticus 23:3).

 

Comment  ~  Again we see the pattern was set by God Himself.  In reality, we find that a periodic change of pace is good for everyone including those who have no faith in God. 

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

* * * * *

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Spiritual Gifts, 39

 ~ The Spiritual Gift of Miraculous Powers -- Healing ~

 

Opening Comment  ~  “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:16-18). 

 

Category  ~  The broad category is Sign Gifts.  The gift of healing is a sub-set of the gift of miraculous powers. 

 

Definition  ~  The bestowing of divine power in order to physically heal another. 

 

New Testament Examples  ~  There are numerous accounts of healing in the New Testament by both Jesus and by his Apostles. 

 

Scripture  ~  In the Gospel of Luke alone we find the account of about twenty of Jesus’ miracles.  Four of those miracles which Luke records are healings. 

 

Scripture  ~  “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

 

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.  And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.  Are all apostles?  Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?  Are all workers of miracles?  Do all have gifts of healings?  Do all speak with tongues?  Do all interpret?  But earnestly desire the best gifts.  And yet I show you a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:27-31).

 

Chapter 13 ends with the “more excellent way” explained: “and now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

 

Quote  ~  “I believe the Holy Spirit gives certain gifts that are peculiar for certain specific ages. No one today has the same gift that Martin Luther had in his day.  I think the Spirit of God gives gifts to the body of Christ so that it might function in the age in which it finds itself in order that the whole body might profit from it.” —J. Vernon McGee

                                           

Note  ~  In our era we can take our needs directly to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Physician and Divine Healer.  Certainly we can, and should, call upon other believers and the Christian leaders to pray for healing on our behalf.  We should place our faith in our Lord and Savior and not in any specific person.   Where do you place your faith?

 

Closing Comments  ~  “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.  Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:12-16).

 

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).

 

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

* * * * *

·         Be an insider!  Sign up for his Author Newsletter and receive occasional news and special offers.  His books have won national and international literary awards.  Subscribe today and receive a welcome gift.  Your email will never be sold, given, or used in any other way.  You can easily unsubscribe at any time.  https://www.subscribepage.com/rlr 

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