BIBLE MEDITATION:
Revelation 4:3; “And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.”
ENCOURAGING WORD:
I’m going to start this message with a story from a very good Christian Brother of mine. This particular friend is an inspiration to the Word of God and a true messenger of God unlike many today. I was talking with him a while back and he proceeded to tell me of an encounter that he had with Jesus. The first thing that I thought of was when Paul got caught up into the third heaven as we read in the following Bible verse; 2 Corinthians 12:2; “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.” This is the Apostle Paul describing a moment in time where he felt he was literally taken into heaven where he could see paradise. It was so wonderful that he had no words to describe what he saw.
Now, my Christian Brother seems to have had an encountered of a similar experience. I do believe that God still chooses people today to experience certain situations like this. I don’t believe it happens quite as often as we hear about, but none the less, God still speaks to His chosen ones to share messages that He needs to reach today’s world with.
When my friend was taken into, what could have possibly been the third heaven, whether in a dream or in a vision, he saw a great golden throne. Then God proceeded to ask him, who do you see sitting on this throne? And his answer was, “He (My Friend) saw himself sitting on this throne” and God said, “That is the problem.” At that moment my friend quickly removed himself from the throne and replaced himself with the one who should be on all of our thrones, Jesus Christ, our one and only King of Kings and Lord of lords.
This story is short but really hits the nail on the head as far as how most of the world population views themselves in life today. We all want to be the king of our own castles sitting high on our own thrones. As long as we view ourselves sitting on the throne, we will never receive the blessings that God has intended for us. It is natural for all of us to want to be at the top of our own kingdom, when in reality it should go like this. God first, Family second, Friends third, everybody else next and them ourselves last. See, if we put Jesus Christ at the top of everything that we do, everything else will fall perfectly into place. The Holy Spirit will guide your path and see you through every day of your life. Nothing that we need to do, but surrender our lives to the one who created us in the first place. God created every one of us for a purpose, but we have to submit to that purpose to receive His promises.
I’m going to share a few Bible verses that we all should meditate on and live out every day.
Jeremiah 17:7-8; “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
Matthew 7:15-20; “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
John 15:14-16; “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
Let me clarify something in the last couple verses that we just read. When Jesus said; You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, that is by no means supporting predestination as many believe. Those that believe in predestination, obviously have not read the Bible in the context in which it is written. Romans 8:29;“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” God knew before the foundation of the world who would receive Him and who would reject Him. He did not create anybody to go to hell, it is a choice that we have to make, and God knew what your choice would be before you were even born. The following verse obviously rebukes predestination. John 3:16; “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.’ If we were predestined to go to hell or heaven, would Jesus have come to earth to suffer the way He did if it had no bearing on our salvation? Again, common sense can answer a lot of debates if we take the Bible to mean what it says and says what it means.
Now, the verses that I just read in John 15, Matthew 7 and Jeremiah 17 are interesting because the Bible says we will be known by the fruit that we bear. If we choose not to serve Jesus Christ, we will bear no fruit of the Spirit. Now, some may say, what are the fruits of the Spirit. Well, let me share with you what the Bible says the fruits of the Spirit are. Paul's writing about the fruits of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5: 22-23; In the King James Version of the Bible, it reads; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” See, the law of the land has no law against these things, but these are the things that one should possess once they become Born-Again into the Holy Spirit. This is how we can judge those that say they are Christians. If someone says to you, “you can’t judge me.” There is no way we can judge someone on whether or not they are going to heaven or hell, because only God knows, but we can certainly point out their fruits of the Spirit and let them know where they fall short. Let me go over each fruit so there is no misunderstanding what they refer to. Let me describe love, because I don’t believe many know the real meaning of love.
Ask yourself these question. How many of us can make claim to any of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5: 22-23? Nobody but Jesus Christ. Are we patient? Are we kind? Do we not envy? Do we boast? Are we proud? Do we dishonor others? Are we self-seeking? Do we anger easily? Do we keep no records of our wrongs? Let me ask you this, are you convicted yet? If not, you weren’t listening. Sure, we all have moments of loving kindness, but it’s not necessarily our nature. I know some people that will go out of their way to be kind to someone, but then I know far too many that go out of their way to be as mean as they can.
1 Corinthians 13:3-7; “If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
First of all let me say this, love is not an emotion, love is a commitment. True love is something that is lacking in today’s world. Let me ask you ladies this question. How many times have you heard from a boyfriend or some other acquaintance, “If you love me you will ________ (Fill in the blank) Ladies, don’t fall for this one. If a man truly loves you, he will love you for what you are, not for what you can do for him. When you hear these words, run fast, he doesn’t love you! When people feel that warm and fuzzies equate to love, the love will soon parish, because we all know that those emotional feelings that we think are love, will soon pass to a point. Then what is left. If your love is a true commitment, then your relationship will most likely last until death do you part. If it is based on warm and fuzzies, then it will most likely end in divorce.
Men, if you truly love a certain women, you will not ask her to go against Gods Commands. If you are willing to drag her into sin with you, then you are basically taking her to hell with you, unless you repent and turn from your sinful ways. Men, we’ve all been there. One of the hardest things to do is avoid any sexual contact with your significant other. Its nature to feel the desire to get as intimate as we can with our boyfriend or girlfriend. I believe it is impossible to reframe from sex outside of marriage unless you are truly Born-Again and have given our life to Jesus Christ. Even then, it is still very hard. This next verse hits the nail on the head. What does 1 Corinthians say, “If you have not love, you have nothing.” I know a few pastors that seem to know the Bible inside and out, but they have no love for their fellow Christians or compassion toward other Christians. I just wonder how this will play out when they stand before Jesus in judgement. These following verse jump out at me when I hear about these pastors that have not love.
Matthew 7:22-25; “ Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Are these verses describing those that have not love, but know the Word of God? , “If you have not love, you have nothing.” Makes me wonder!
1 Corinthians 13:13; "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Let’s move on the ”Joy”
John 16:24; “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your “ Joy” may be full.”
The joy that is in reference here is the Joy of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. There are so many meanings behind the word “Joy.” Let me give you a couple examples of what I am saying. You can feel joy in delight, pleasure, amusement and gratification to mention a few. Joy in delight can come in many various ways. The feeling experienced when one's wishes are met. “We were filled with delight at the sight of everyone in the family together at last for the holidays.” Someone or something that provides amusement or enjoyment. “With his great sense of humor and bubbly personality, he is a delight to be around.” Depending on what kind of person that you are, you can find joy in good things, or you can find joy in evil things. Evil can consist of the following. There are people who find joy in hurting others. There are those that can actually find joy in harming others, even unto death. And probably the number one feeling of joy in a sinful way is by Sexual gratification.
John 15:11; “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your “Joy” may be full.”
Notice what Jesus is referring to in the verse that I just read. Jesus says that His “Joy” may remain in you and that your joy may be full. He is not referring to the joy of the world in any way shape or form. Jesus is referring to the joy that only can come by way of Him. There is a special “Joy” that comes from an everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ that cannot be met in the world in which we live.
Hebrews 12:22; “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the “Joy” set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
This verse brings another kind of joy that we will never understand. Jesus found Joy set before Him as He endured the cross, scorning its shame and then found great joy as He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy that Jesus felt obviously was not due to the painful suffering that He had to endure, the Joy that He felt was what He was accomplishing at the cross. He defeated once and for all death to all who would come to Him in repentance and believe on Him whom the Father has sent. There is no greater joy than to know that you will be forever with Jesus Christ throughout eternity. Joy in this world will soon fade away, the only joy that will last is the Joy of salvation that will last forever and ever.
Now let’s see what Jesus means about peace as a gift of the Spirit.
John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
There will be many who try to disrupt our peace. The world will try to scare us, trouble us, or weigh us down. But this Bible verse about peace tells us that the peace we encounter in Jesus is different. It is everlasting and can withstand any circumstances. There are those that believe that the world will usher in a peaceful Utopia so Jeus can return. This is taught in one of the mainline denominations of Christianity. Jesus very plainly said that there would be no peace until the Prince of Peace returned. Here what He says in the following Bible verse. We read in;
Matthew 24:22; “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
Jesus is talking about the time during the tribulation. Does it sound like Jesus is going to return to a peaceful world. Not likely!
Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
I think it’s safe to say that we could all use a little hope right now. If we want to overflow with hope, then we need to be filled with joy and peace. The joy and peace that only comes through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, whatever day that may be, set aside time to spend with the Holy Spirit, building trust in God so you can bring joy, peace, and hope to all. Let this Bible verse about peace become a prayer you hold onto throughout the Christmas season.
All this is summed up in the following Bible verse. For those that watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas” you were given the whole reason for the birth of Christ told by Linus.
Luke 2: 8-14; “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
There was a little misinterpretation of this small verse where people can take it out of context to mean something else. Instead of “and on earth peace good will toward men.” It originally said; “and peace on earth toward men of good will.” It changes the meaning when you read it the way it was originally written. Jesus did not come to earth to bring peace as we read in the following Bibler verse.
Matthew 10:34-39; “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
One only needs to read the Bible to get the absolute truth. These words came straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ. Truth does not come from behind the pulpits of America. Most Pastors and Priest only teach religion, not the true and inherent Word of God. So, are you going to put your salvation in the hands of man, or through the Word of God?
This is a good time to ask you once again, who is sitting on your throne? You yourself, your Pastor, your Priest or any other man made religions of the world. Jesus is sitting on the Fathers throne and guiding me through each and every day of my life. The Holy Spirit has taken me under His wings and taught me the truth of the scriptures for the last thirty years.
Let’s move on to a gift of the Spirit that none of us like. Longsuffering!
2 Peter 3:9; “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
People may ask, why hasn’t Jesus returned yet? The answer is in the verse that we just read. Jesus is longsuffering because He wants to give every human being a chance to repent and turn to Him. Like it says, Jesus is “not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Unfortunately, the Bible is very clear on how many will come to repentance and give their lives to Jesus Christ. We read this very disturbing verse in; Matthew 7:13-14; “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Jesus is waiting for the last person to repent and turn to Him. When that last person repents and turns to Jesus Christ for salvation, the Father will say to the Son, “Go get em” (The Rapture) Then starts the worst time in Human History. The “Seven Year Tribulation” spoken of by Daniel the Prophet.
1 Timothy 1:16; “However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”
The verse that I just read is where Jesus is showing us a pattern of what we will have to endure as Christians during our walk with Jesus Christ. There are churches that teach, peace will come to those that choose to come to their church. That is a lie from the pit of hell, because most of the Mega churches do not teach the truth about salvation and the trials that true Christians will endure. They are having their ears tickled as the scriptures plainly teach.
2 Timothy 4:3; “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will gather up for themselves teachers; We are there!
Here what Jesus says about going through trials and tribulation.; John 16: 32-33; “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Here Jesus is telling us in His own Words, In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Once again, one only needs to read the Bible to get the truth. The biggest culprits that teach happiness to those that come to church and give money, are those that we refer to as the Mega Churches. They are all about prosperity and seeker sensitive teaching. I would love to name some names, but it’s up to you to search out who these evil Pastors are. They will pay dearly. I’ll give you a clue…follow the money. Who owns a couple Jets, yachts, and multimillion dollar mansions. Their congregations consist of well over two thousand lost souls.
When these Pastors teach happiness to those that give tithes and come to church, what happens the first time that a trial or tribulation enters there life? They say, “I didn’t sign up for this” and they then turn against Christianity because they were lied to from the start. They turn away from God or they turn to some other feel good religion. Note; When you become Born-Again into the Holy Spirit, you will then have a target on your back. You will be under persecution from the world and even more from the Spiritual realm. Satan is real.
So what are we supposed to do about Satan?
1 Peter 5:8; says it best; “be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.”
Be sober and vigilant because Satan is real. It is in his “new” nature to attack you. But as much as he wants to, he cannot touch your soul. Satan is driven by ungodly emotions, the chief of which is hate. We can’t appease him, and we shouldn’t even try. Because we can’t defeat Satan on our own, we take our example from Christ Jesus. Scripture is our truth. It is our plumbline keeping us centered on our Lord. The enemy of our soul isn’t to be our chief concern. God is our focus, and our relationship with Him is our purpose. Friend, I don’t share any of this with you to cause fear. Nor should you become fixated on our enemy. God doesn’t want that for you, and neither do I. So instead of obsessing or cowering in fear, invest your time and energy into knowing Jesus through the Bible. Focus on being a blessing to those around you, especially those who share your faith. Concentrate on growing more Christ-like in your character. Be a blessing by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.
Then we finish with, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Philippians 4:5; “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” As believers in Christ, we should all be kind to all men. This is probably one of the hardest gifts of the spirit because there is so much hatred toward our fellow man. I’ll be the first to say, it is hard to love those that hate you.
Colossians 4:5-6; “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Without knowledge of the scriptures, there is no way to give an answer with grace, seasoned with salt, if we have never studied the Bible. The scripture "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God" appears in Romans 10:17 of the Bible. In this verse, Paul discusses the process of faith being created in the heart. The verse can be interpreted to mean that faith comes from hearing the message of Christ, which is heard through the word of God. God gave us the Bible for our learning. It is the blueprint to life that we are to follow if we want to live Gods will for our lives. Unfortunately, most of the world would rather do it their way. That is why the world is in such a mess.
Galatians 6:10; “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” This verse is telling us that we should be gentle and kind to all people, but especially to those of the household of faith. The household of faith is referring to those that have been born-again into the Holy Spirit and have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This is very disturbing to me because many that call themselves Christians are anything but Christians. They go by name only. You can plainly see this by how those that call themselves Christians are the ones that are always fighting with other Christians over doctrinal issues that have no bearing on salvation. Someone once asked Ghandi, What is the biggest distraction to Christianity in India. His answer was, (Christians). Who wants to be a Christians when all they do is fight amongst each other. Very true statement.
“Along with gentleness, goodness is also in the same category. We read in; 2 Peter 1:5-7; “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, (steady, earnest, and energetic effort to accomplish an undertaking) add to your faith virtue, (a particular moral excellence) to virtue knowledge, (Understanding of the Word of God) to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, (continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition) to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” If we follow these steps laid out by the Apostle Peter, everything else should fall into place. Being a good Christian is not always easy, but if we focus on the steps laid out by Peter, and stay the course, it should become more and more evident as time goes by during our walk with Jesus Christ.
So, for the last time, who is on your throne? If it is Jesus, then act like it. If it is yourself, you better figure it out quickly because Jesus is coming quickly and once He appears, all choices have been made and are final. No purgatory, no second chance no matter what you are told. After you last breath here on earth, your next breath will be in heaven or hell. Your Choice. To wait one more day is like playing Russian Roulette. Nobody knows what a day will bring, so make that choice today to serve who you will. You will either serve Jesus Christ or Satan. There are no other choices. Your choice will determine where you spend eternity, heaven with Jesus Christ in the most unbelievable environment, one that God has said can’t even enter our imagination, or hell in the lake of burning fire and torment for all eternity. There are no other choices. What will you choose?
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
May God bless you in all you do and take care!
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