Thursday, December 2, 2021

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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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

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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